


Another Realm III: Ronin

by Katkiller_V



Series: Another Realm [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Asari Culture, Batarian Culture, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, Interspecies Relationship(s), Intrigue, POV First Person, POV switch, Quarian Culture, Self-Insert, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 16:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 46
Words: 209,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6160399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katkiller_V/pseuds/Katkiller_V
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Exiled from the Shaaryak mansion or not, I still fully intend on finding out just who was responsible for massacring the staff at the hotel. Unfortunately for me, that means I'm stuck working for Aethyta full-time, which wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't being sent to Omega to support the team investigating the True Sons there. I'm sure it could be worse, but I'm not quite sure how...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> This series was originally (and still is), primarily posted on FF.net. I am going to endeavor to keep it updated here as well to ensure that as many people as possible can read it if they so chose. Thanks to a few faithful readers, it also has a tv tropes page, which can be found here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/AnotherRealm. Feel free to check it out if you're interested.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat

  **Another Realm: Rōnin**  

 

* * *

 

 

**Prologue: Departures**

_Date: 08-27-2181_

 

* * *

 

 

Journal Entry 1: Cieran Kean

_(Liberated by Trena T'laria)_

 

Voya says that I should keep writing crap like this down, that it helps clear my mind. Personally I don't think it helps all that much, but I like not having knives sticking out of my body.. so here we fucking go again. ( _She would too. Fucking tides damned crazy bitch)._

Since I lost my last journal, or because a certain scaled creature stole it, quick review. ( _No Comment)_

Near the end of March in 2015, I passed out in a hotel in upstate New York and woke up in a suburb of Nos Astra on Illium in 2180. Awaiting me was a medical condition, a mysterious Matriarch, and the news that I was apparently just the prototype to make sure that she could drag her Chosen One to this galaxy.

Yeah, shit was complicated. And it only got worse.( _Understatement of the goddess damned year)_

Still.. there were some good points. I met Trena T'laria, a short little tit of an Asari who still managed to become my best friend. And you know, teach me things like how to work an omni-tool, build armor out of scrap metal, get over killing people. You know, things that I'd need just to survive on Illium. ( _Not the most flattering description of myself, I have to say. Could have at least mentioned that I have a decent rack.)_

I also met Xerol Shaaryak and his family, apparently the only non-exiled Batarian Highbornes to be found outside of the Hegemony. Well.. now they they weren't. At one point he had been exiled, then did enough crap to be welcomed back. Him, his niece, and two of his cousins at least. ( _He made them a small ocean of money.)_

His brother and sister in law weren’t so lucky. See, they'd joined the Blue Suns and come up with some convoluted scheme to sell out the Suns to the Hegemony. The part they fucked up was that they also wanted their daughter, who was living with Xerol as his heir, to sell her off to some highborn warrior family for political points.

Said daughter, Nynsi, and I got rather.. close. Yes, I know she's a Batarian and I'm a human. We made it work. For a while. Getting ahead of myself, have an issue with that. Anyways, long story short: Gang war backed by her parents broke out, I killed Nynsi's mother in the middle of a fight, her dad had Xerol killed, tried to kill Sederis, I smashed his head into a wall. While I was wearing power armor. ( _Yeah. The blood smear was rather impressive, and definitely have to give the ape style points for getting everyone's attention before he did it.)_

In the end, Nynsi ended up as the new head of the family, and I was her Harath'krem. Basically a combination of her adviser and bodyguard. And for a while things were.. pretty good. Trena ran security, we made a few pretty good friends amongst the staff.. probably the best few months of my life. _(Self-centered ass didn't even mention that I found my bondmate in that timeframe. Ass.)_

And then the Hegemony got fucking involved.

You see, after I'd killed Chacksin ul Shaarayk, his omni-tool had gotten stuck in my armor. Matriarch Aethyta (my sometime boss) and Nynsi put their heads together and came up with a plan to keep the True Son gang and Blue Sun mercs off of us in a rather permanent fashion by releasing all of the Blue Suns information we had onto the extranet. Who they were cheating out of cash, who they were betraying, the works.

So yeah. We kind of started a war, one that the Hegemony felt like getting involved in.

We didn't really care until Balak, yes _that_ Balak, got himself stuck on Korlus behind Blue Suns lines. Thanks to a whole lot of cultural bullshit, Nynsi got us involved in trying to rescue him. Which we did, at the low low cost of losing more than half of our security force, my armored exoskeleton.. oh, and I died. For just a few minutes, mind you, but my heart definitely stopped. ( _And I may have gotten sent a will telling me all this shit. And everything that he remembered about the 'games' that described what was coming. Might come. Shit. It was complicated.)_

I missed a few months in my initial recovery, and things between Nyn and I improved a little bit. It helped that Balak was a complete and total asshole who did everything he could to alienate her. But we were living on a knife edge, with my lover being increasingly torn. On one hand, she had a lot of cultural pressure saying that she should be Nynsi Shaaryak, Matriarch of her family.. and me, wanting her to stay as Nyn Shaaryak, free living heiress. ( _Huh. Never thought about that Bitch like separate people.. shit. That explains a lot. Dammit ape, why do you always fall for the broken ones.)_

Since my life can't be easy, you can guess which half won. I didn't exactly help, crossing a few cultural lines.. though her own stress led to Nynsi blowing up in ways that I hadn't expected at the time. I was on thin ice with orders to keep Balak's people alive in one of her hotels. Confident that they'd be fine, I went off with Trena to help the Eclipse boot out the remaining True Sons. ( _Athame's fucking ass.. really wish he'd stop blaming himself for that crap.)_

By the time we got back, all of the crew were dead, and the hotel's staff had been tortured to death.

After that.. well, Nynsi kicked me out as you'd expect, naming me Reyja'krem. Loosely, Exiled Warrior. I'm still technically a member of the Batarian highborn caste but I don't have any of the legal protection a Harath'krem would. Essentially I'm a lordless, landless medieval knight. Trena, her new bondmate, and some of our friends left with me (or got kicked out after), and we all ended up in a Republic Intelligence safehouse. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I fell into a depressed, alcoholic haze for a few weeks before Scales beat the crap out of me. ( _Asshole got a few hits in of his own once I got him pissed)_

Once I was back in my right mind, Aethyta brought me in to confirm her own theories. We had two groups who might have done it.. the Hegemony was definitely ruthless enough to kill their own people, though the why was illusive. The other option was the Blue Suns, taking out whoever they could as their last strongholds began to fall.

Now, I'm not a galactic badass or anything close to it. But I’m a decent enough engineer, and so Aethyta left a spot open for me. I'd support the Intelligence team going to Omega to investigate the True Sons and Blue Suns (They'd be disguised as a mercenary team). While I was doing that, Trena and her newly pregnant bondmate would be staying on Illium to support the group looking into the Hegemony angle. ( _We were very, very drunk all right?)_

Shit... just writing the crap about the hotel.. need a damned drink again. I'll come back to this later. ( _Somehow I doubt it. And again with the damned drinking.)_

_To: The alien woman who would kill me and wear my skin as a cloak if I didn't write this._

_From: Cieran Kean (The Ape)_

_Annotated and shit: Trena T'laria (The awesome Asari)_

* * *

 

**Dramatis Personae – Original Characters**

 

_**The Omega Team** _

_Cieran Kean –_ The protagonist and unwilling dimensional traveler, Cieran is roughly six feet tall and built like a rail. Green eyed, his brown hair extends well past his shoulders and is typically tied back, also has a long goatee. Still recovering from severe injuries suffered in the Battle of Korlus, he tries to compensate for his average combat skills with heavy usage of technology.

 _Rane'li –_ An exiled Batarian lowborn, she is a former communications specialist forced into a combat role after the Shaaryak security forces were decimated. Like most Batarian females is very built and relatively tall, and has copper toned skin. Is currently going out with Cieran Kean.

 _Illyan T'Donna –_ A truly massive Asari in terms of both height (six and a half feet) and strength, served as a mechanic at the Shaaryak estate until her firing. While capable in a fight, her limited biotics force her to rely more on weaponry than most of her species.

 _Trisren_ – One of Aethyta's spies, she is tall and thin for an Asari. Chosen to lead the Omega mercenary team. While friendly, she takes her job extremely seriously and is determined to make sure that her people are prepared.

_**Illium** _

_Trena T'laria –_ Cieran's best friend, a short, stocky Asari from Illium. Her dark blue skin is lacks any markings. Formerly an Eclipse sister, she owes Jona Sederis for events in her past. Currently in possession of a will detailing the events of the Mass Effect games, she is holding onto the data until she can either disprove it or Eden Prime occurs.

 _Ghai T'laria_ – Formerly Xerol Shaaryak's Harath'krem, a pale blue Asari of average height and build. Suffered severe injuries in battle that have left her with limited biotics and a ruined voice, but has begun to show hidden depths. Bonded to Trena T'laria, she is pregnant with their first child.

 _Erana T'Donna –_ Illyan's younger sister, has yet to reach her first century and is still growing. Regards Cieran, Trena, and Ghai as surrogate parents given her father's death and mother's failure as a guardian.

 _Shera Vasir –_ Younger sister to Spectre Tela Vasir, she is of similar appearance though has a noticeably warmer voice. A highly competent I-Sec Captain, was 'exiled' to oversee Khar'shan Minor for caring more about her job than pleasing Illium's Executive Board. Works closely with Matriarch Aethyta.

 _Nynsi Shaaryak –_ Head of the Shaaryak Highborn family, and the only such individual outside of the Hegemony after the death of her uncle and cousins. She has teal skin and a biting wit, though the stress of her new position has pushed her more towards formality. Cieran's former lover, she is an absolutely lethal shot with her pistols.

 **Antagonists**  

 _The Matriarch –_ The mysterious Asari who first brought Cieran to the Mass Effect universe. Has not been seen in over a year and her motives remain unknown. Evidence has been accrued that Cieran was not her only 'experiment', and that as many as ten other humans were brought before him only to be killed (either by the process or for unknown reasons after).

 _Adan Krom –_ A human assassin hired by the True Sons, is wanted by Jona Sederis for attempting to kill her mind healer. Enjoys psychological games with his targets, but is highly adept at escaping even when apparently cornered. Believed to be on Omega.

* * *

 

 

_**Next up is Prologue 1: The Brawl** _

 

 


	2. The Brawl

 I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 

**Prologue 1: The Brawl**

* * *

 

An explosive breath blew out of my lungs when my body hit the floor. I had enough momentum that I rolled the rest of the way into cover, tracer shots whipping through the air that I had been occupying a few moments before.

“This is not going well!” Rane shouted in my direction, her omni-tool glowing bright red as a tech mine whirled out from the launcher on her right hip. The cackling explosion of an overload was punctuated by a Turian oath as the gunfire cut out.

“Keep up the overloads!” I snapped back, scrambling up to one knee and trying to bring my pistol around. “Don't let him close! And start shooting dammit!”

Rather than waste breath acknowledging me like she once would have, she simply yanked a pistol off her belt with her free hand while directing another mine downrange with her other. She wasn't the best shot with the light weapon, but in this situation I'd take any extra fire that she could give us.

I'd barely gotten my Acolyte up before our opponent was up and moving again. Ignoring the fact that his shields had to be drained, the barrel chested alien rose and broke into a lateral sprint. The asshole didn't even seem to be slowed in the slightest by his jet black armor, or to have any problems snapping off bursts from his rifle on the run.

 _Accurate_ fucking bursts at that.

He'd moved fast enough that the second overload from Rane missed entirely, and neither one of us did more than wing him with our return fire. In comparison, his own shots hammered at my companion's dark navy plates until she had to drop into cover as her barriers failed.

Swearing in highborn Batarian, I shifted my pistol to a one handed grip to snap my own omni-tool open. I was painfully reminded of my pistol's limitations when I managed to smack a round into his shoulder that didn't slow him in the slightest.

Before I could get an incinerate off he dropped into a power slide, vanishing behind a wrecked aircar to break my omni-tool's lock. “Son of a.. Rane, twenty meters, one and a half up!”

“Angle!?”

Shit. “Fifteen left!”

The problem with having to talk in the middle of a fight was that it gave your opponent time to make their own plans. By the time my incinerate and her overload were airborne, our target was already moving again. The double explosion of our tech mines did little more then singe his back as he vaulted the aircar's hood and broke into a sprint straight at us.

The charge would have been worrying enough by itself, but he felt the need to hurl a pair of grenades right at my face before his feet even hit the ground. My reflexes were decent, but even a Salarian couldn't have moved fast enough to get out of the way.

A pop was followed by a flash of white, my helmet trying to block out the worst of the flash-bang by flashing my visor black and cutting off the external speakers. It helped, somewhat, but the second grenade rendered it entirely moot by exploding in a more traditional manner.

I'd gotten far enough way from the explosion not to be killed instantly, but my shields still collapsed as my back was peppered with fragments.

Stumbling a few steps, I tried to straighten only for something to smack straight into my helmet and send me sprawling to the ground. I thought about getting up for all of a moment before letting my body sag as I groaned.

The speakers in my helmet promptly buzzed with an annoyed sigh. “ _You're dead Cieran. Point blank head shot.”_

“Really?” I managed to rasp the words out.”I had no fucking clue Tris.”

“ _Ass.”_

In the background the gunfire continued on, a few more dull thuds making me grimace. I could tell when it was over because a heavy body collapsed to the floor somewhere nearby, Rane's voice rising in a long groan.

“Spirits. You're both acting as if I am torturing you.”

“I hate your boyfriend Tris.”

Somewhere a door slid open, which let the former bartender's voice easily reach us. “Such emotion Cieran. Perhaps you'd rather spar with Illyan?”

Glad for the fact that my helmet hid my flinch at the very idea, I waved a hand vaguely as my visor finally cleared itself. “No thanks, every other day is enough. Rating for the day?”

Armor clattered as today's opponent shifted to glance down at me. He'd removed his helmet, revealing gray plates overlaid with sharp red lines and patterns. His voice was like the few other Turian's that I'd heard, deep and vibrating.

Oh, and he was fucking tall. I hadn't been around many Turians, excepting the ones that I'd fought against, and I'd only really realized just how bloody _large_ they were when Tris had started bringing him along. He could easily look Illyan in the eyes and he apparently considered himself merely above average in terms of height.

“Your initial plans were solid.” Dorvahn Altheus's mandibles quivered in what I was starting to think was slight approval. “And you were able to react well when I initially changed the situation. But you are personally still too slow.”

“Which will improve with time.” Trisren stepped over to her alien boy-toy, continuing to speak even as he bent down to press their foreheads together. “For now we need to continue adjusting your tactics to compensate for your limitations.”

Namely the fact that I couldn't move faster than a slow jog without my leg starting to lock up, and that doing so would exhaust me in all of five minutes. But she did have a point, I had been improving over the last few weeks. Doctor Sayran had gone from cautious optimism to outright optimism that I'd be back up to my old level of health in another few months. I'd still have some aches, particularly if I put too much stress on that leg, but overall things were healing neatly if slowly.

Up until those months passed though.. “Should have stayed bunkered down instead of trying to push up.”

“Rane'li has more armor and is more mobile, so yes.” The Turian parted from Tris, extending a long arm my way. “I was surprised that you moved.”

Accepting the gauntlet offered my way, I let him haul me up and tried not to stumble. “She's also better at multitasking than me, thought she could keep you pinned while I moved up.”

“Hnn.” Mandibles quivered again as Tris moved away to help Rane get to her own feet. “Possibly workable, but she would have needed a more rapid fire weapon than that pistol. Perhaps if she had abandoned using her mines and instead simply focused on using her rifle I might have been compelled to be more cautious. As it was, with both of you using your omni-tools constantly it was rather simple to break your line of sight and cold count your launch time before rushing you.”

I grimaced, reaching up to yank my own helmet off. Rane's helmet noticeably turned in my direction as I shook my long hair out. While she definitely liked it, I was beginning to remember why I'd stopped wearing it long in my past life. Put bluntly it was a giant pain in the ass to keep clean, never-mind how often it got in my face even when I tied it back.

Dorvahn continued speaking as I tossed my headgear aside. “If you were part of a larger squad your combined attacks would have be extremely useful in support, but with only the two of you..”

“It left us predictable.” Rane sighed, light gleaming on her blue armor as she reached up to start removing her own gear.

The Turian gave a tilting nod. “And thus, dead. Still, you're both reasonably competent, as much as I'd expect you to be after the last year and a half.”

“Excellent. I always wanted to be proclaimed merely competent.” Rane lips quivered at my wry tones, though they faded when I continued more seriously. “We good enough to survive Omega?”

His head cocked in an oddly birdlike way before he glanced between us. “You're getting there, but it would still be better if you had more people.”

Shaking my head a bit to get hair out of my face, I sighed. “Yeah, well.. Illyan still hasn't decided yet. Do have a few dossiers that Aethyta gave me for people we can look up on station, but that'll have to wait until we get there.”

After agreeing to take the mission, Aethyta had flooded my mailbox with briefings, warnings, recommendations.. everything we'd need just to live on the hellhole that was Omega. Put bluntly, the place wasn't much like what I'd seen in game. Oh the areas right around Afterlife, where Aria's elites tended to congregate, tended to be safe enough. Unless you pissed them, or their boss, off.

But apart from similar small islands of relative peace around other strongholds, most of the place was little more than total anarchy. And like Dorvahn had said, most of the station's population wasn't armed much better than the old True Sons. Just having our armor and the quality of guns we had would let us easily stand off most attacks. At least, while we were awake. Time on Omega, like on most stations, was relative but most areas ran on a thirty-six hour day divided into nine hour 'shifts'.

Both Aethyta, and now Dorvahn, recommended that we have at least a four person team so that at least two people could be awake to watch the shop at all times. I wanted Illyan as number three so that we only had to bring in one unknown, but there was still the issue of Erana to consider. The big Asari wasn't sure about leaving her sister behind, and I wasn't about to force her to.

“Anything else?” Rane tilted her head politely to the left. “There's only a few weeks left until we leave.”

The Turian hummed for a moment, glancing between us again before speaking. “You need to keep working with your rifle. Cieran needs a gun that isn't an Acolyte. It's damned effective at ripping away barriers, but you'll want something more rapid fire to deal with the rabble.”

I grunted. “I could get a new Watcher. Liked that gun.”

Tris turned to stare at me. “Goddess. What's wrong with an honest rifle? You don't exactly have a giant suit of power armor anymore.”

Which.. was a perfectly valid point. I didn't. Nor did I have a lover with warehouses full of money to pay for the parts to build and then maintain a new one. “I'll.. shop around a bit.”

“Just don't buy a Visage. Rane, promise me that you'll hit him if he does.”

“I'm not going to buy a Visage.” You needed gorilla arms to freaking wield those things. Or again.. power armor. And even then they weren't the best guns around. Lancers weren't great but they were reliable as fuck, and that could be a thing on Omega. Plus I could always mod the crap out of it. “Anything else?”

Dorvahn's mandibles quivered. “In a hurry to get somewhere? Perhaps somewhere private?”

“Eager to be rid of us?” My arms crossed my chest, armor creaking a bit with the motion. “Please don't tell me that you two have been using this place for.. extracurricular activities.”

The slightly abashed glance that the Turian gave his Asari girlfriend, and the purple rising in her cheeks made me groan.

“You didn't... Athame's ass, you two have been.” Rubbing my face with an armored hand, I could only groan again at the mental image. “Seriously? In the damned training hall?”

Trisren was still a bit flushed but her lips curled into a wicked little grin. “He likes it when I beat on him before we start. And I didn't think you were a stranger to rough sex Cieran, not with how many marks I've seen on you.”

It was my turn for my skin to redden slightly. “Huge difference between some bite marks and doing it in a _public_ room.”

“We lock the doors first.”

“Spirits, can we.. not talk about this so casually?” The Turian cut in, his posture practically radiating mortification. “I apologize for even bringing the topic up.”

“You get used to it.” Despite her words, the skin around Rane's facial bands had darkened from copper to a muddy red, “But it takes a while.”

“Hang out with Trena a lot. That inoculate you pretty damned fast.” Trying not to hiss at a throb of pain in my left leg, I nodded politely to both of them. “Same time in two days?”

The pair nodded, Tris starting to stretch out as she spoke. Joking about what they did after or not, I'd seen the pair spar enough to know that they were dead serious when it came to their own training. Dorvahn usually didn't have any issues beating his girlfriend if she wasn't using her biotics, size hath its advantage after all, but the Asari spy considered it damned useful. You couldn't always rely on your opponent being in your weight class after all. Especially at a place like Omega.

“So long as you do your exercises tomorrow. And give me an update on Illyan.”

Nodding in acceptance of that, and after a few casual words of farewell, I turned and limped out. Rane waited until the doors had closed behind us before stepping closer and offering me her right arm. I took it gratefully, letting her absorb some of my weight.

“Are you all right?” Her normally low voice dropped to little more than a quiet rumble as we exited the private rooms. The building we were in was nominally run by I-Sec as a training hall, but Captain Vasir had given us permission to use it as we pleased.

“Just sore.” I gave a slight wave of my hand to a few Asari officers that I recognized, most of them nodding back in reply as we walked the halls.

There was a soft sound of disagreement. “You're pushing yourself too hard, Reyja'krem.”

My own voice lowered. “Rane.”

Her skin darkened again, her lower eyes flicking over my face before quickly shifting away. “Sorry Cieran.”

“It's all right.” Shifting my left arm so that it was around her waist, I leaned into her body so that I could brush my lips against her cheek in a silent reward. Which was about as far as our public displays of affection had gotten. Or our private ones for that matter. I did feel rather bad about that, she'd been crushing on me for nearly a year at this point, but I wasn't.. quite ready for anything further after the epic mess that had been my last relationship.

Emotionally that is. Physically it was getting harder to resist the very willing female, alien or not. And while Rane wasn't trying to put any pressure on me, a lot of Batarian affection was wrapped up in unconscious postures and the angles in which they held their heads. All of which were rather hard for her to control, and equally hard for me not to notice. Especially after more than a year of sleeping with a Highborn of the species, and more or less totally immersing myself in their culture. I'd gotten to the point where I could read them fairly well. Certainly a lot better than I'd ever been at reading human women.

“Are we still good to go out tomorrow night?”

The lowborn exile's flush had only grown worse at the kiss. “Y-yes, though you still haven't told me where we're going.”

“And I told you it's a surprise.” I turned away before letting out a long yawn. “Who's cooking tonight?”

“Not us?” She guessed before letting out a groan, the sunset stabbing at our eyes as we stepped out through a pair of doors. “Please tell me we aren't. I just want to lay on the couch and not move for as long as is possible.”

“Dorvahn didn't hit you _that_ hard.”

Her head tilted so that her lower eyes could stare at me, voice shifting to the faux-polite tones that she reserved for offering indirect insults to people above her station. “With respect, I don't recall you being in any condition to evaluate that Reyja'krem. As a matter of fact, I do believe that I saw you laying on the floor and admiring the ceiling while I was continuing to fight. And that was merely the final round, I don't believe that your memory is so poor as to have forgotten the prior runs where I was likewise battered.”

I felt a muscle in my cheek twitch. “Stop trying to guilt trip me. It's my couch.”

Cheeks darkened again. “Can a noble Reyja'krem not share it with his wounded girlfriend?”

“Only if she doesn't mind watching clawball.”

“Does the River District play tonight?”

“They do. Western Reaches at home.”

“Then she does not mind at all.”

* * *

**Next up is Prologue 2: The Shop**  

* * *

**Author's Fun Fact: Floating Mind Syndrome**

_Floating Mind syndrome is a medical condition caused by a forced deep meld from an Asari. While most people are aware that Asari bond during sex, and can manage shallow melds to share information, these are almost always consensual acts. Floating Mind develops when the non-Asari, or unwilling Asari, attempts to resist the mental contact. Most Asari don't particularly have issues finding willing partners, but there are some deviants who take pleasure from the sensation of a mind trying to reject them. In sadder cases, mothers and sibling of Ardat'yakshi will attack others mentally in an attempt to 'understand' their loved ones' addiction to such things._

_But where a Demon of the Night Winds leaves only a corpse behind, a normal Asari will leave a mentally scarred victim in her wake. Most species exhibit differing reactions to such attacks, as outlined below. Note; recovery time is for the physical effects only. The people in question have been mentally violated / raped (sometimes physically as well), and psychological recovery can take years. Most side effects can be countered by medication._

_**Species:** _

_Asari – Will find their biotics to be unstable and will flinch from establishing melds of their own. May also suffer from minor headaches and bouts of dizziness. Recovery: Three to Six months_

_Krogan – Suffer from minor headache, will be more likely to succumb to blood rage. Recovery: One to three months_

_Turians – Hand to eye coordination will noticeably decreased, may also suffer from anxiety attacks. Recovery: Six to twelve months._

_Batarians – Phantom itching and pain, typically leads to increased irritability. Recovery: Eight to fourteen months._

_Drell – Will begin seizing within minutes of the attack as their mind cannot break from the memory chain. No known Drell has survived a mental attack by an Asari._

_Quarian – Suffers from 'stages'. Stage 1 – hallucinations and phantom smells, lasts one to two weeks. Stage 2 – Chemical imbalances lead to anxiety and irritability, two-four months. Stage 3 – Steadily frequent, and worsening head pain. Two for four years._

_Human – Initially will appear to have no side effects. Migraines will begin roughly six to fourteen months after the event. Will worsen rapidly in terms of pain, occurring weekly or biweekly. Frequency will degrade over time. Recovery: Three to five years._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.. here we go again. Officially now. Introducing the first of the new characters in Dorvahn Altheus, Trisren's Turian boyfriend who is helping her rehab Cieran by beating on him a bit. He'll naturally be part of Tris's squad on Omega, which will be a team that we'll be meeting later.
> 
>  
> 
> The new post-chapter setup will begin in Act 1, once everyone has gone their own ways. The prologue's will have some additional 'refresher' fun facts, going over things from Arrival and Terminus that were mentioned but that people might have forgotten.
> 
>  
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	3. The Shop

 I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 

**Prologue 2: The Shop**

 

* * *

 Trena's shop hadn't changed since we'd more or less abandoned it last year. She still had her principle workbench setup near a small desk, with my area similarly setup along the western wall. Though it was more Illyan's than mine these days. Instead we'd dragged in an extension platform and another console and attached it to Trena's. That let the big Asari handle customer orders while Trena and I worked on our side projects.

Not that we really needed customers. Like me, Trena had received a massive salary from first Xerol and then Nynsi, plus her own cuts of the money we'd 'liberated' from the Blue Suns and their patsies. But it kept up appearances, and she'd probably keep the place going while she handled her own mission for Aethyta.

If not for Illyan's presence I could have almost imagined that things were simple again.. like they had been when I'd first arrived. It was good to be able to just sit down and work on things once more. Even if cleaning out all of the dust had been annoying as shit.

“Not bad ape.” Trena allowed. She was standing over my shoulder, eyes watching as I carefully adjusted some of the control wiring running along a metal tube's interior. “Glad to see you finally saw that I was fucking right about the grip.”

Illyan's deep voice echoed from where she was working on someone's aircar. “I still think the old design was better boss. Was definitely more subtle.”

“Omega isn't subtle.” Scales shot back, “Better to make sure even idiots realize you're armed.”

Grunting, I tuned out the continuing bickering, instead focusing on making sure that nothing would get caught in what was essentially the breech. A spring mounted cover plate could be slid back to allow for quick reloads and the last thing I wanted was for the thing to cut off the control cables.

As far as the handle went.. I had taken Trena's advice and replicated what she'd done. Getting rid of the traditional curving cane top, it had been replaced with something closer to a pistol grip. Like they'd said.. it definitely made it obvious that it the walking stick was actually a weapon. But it also would make using it as an actual weapon a hell of a lot easier.

Machining the damn thing had been a pain, and so had been getting two control dials and the trigger worked into it. But connecting them to the tech launcher itself would give me at least a reasonable level of control over the launched mines. Not nearly the level of manipulation that I could manage with an omni-tool, but I'd be able to set a detonation distance and the curvature of the shot. Which was something.

Trena's voice dragged me out of my concentration. “How's the weight?”

“Heavy, not really a surprise.” Finally getting the last one pinned into the connecting port, I leaned back and cracked my fingers in relief. “At least I can beat people over the head with it if I have to.”

“That explains why you're reinforcing everything so fucking much.” Gem colored eyes narrowed. “Dammit. Now I have to rip mine apart again and fucking make sure that it won't fall apart.”

“Have fun with that.” Ducking my head instinctively, I took the light cuff of her forearm on my shoulder. “Tit.”

“Ass.” Finally moving away, she collapsed heavily into her own chair. I watched out of the corner of my eyes as she glanced over her shoulder in Illyan's direction before leaning onto the workbench. Her voice dropped, rare severity making me pause working to listen. “You sure you're good for this ape?”

“Can't say I'm thrilled about it.” I admitted quietly. “But can you blame me for wanting to get off this planet?”

“No, but you're not going to the damned Citadel or some random colony. You're going to fucking Omega.”

I was. And the more she kept harping on me the less sure I was about the entire damned idea. But uneasy about it or not.. “Scales.. I can't just sit here and not help figure out what happened.”

“So fucking stay here.” She snapped, her voice rising. “You and Ghai are the only experts on Batarians that we've got. And with her voice it'd be easier to have you handle that crap.”

“I-Sec has plenty of people and you know it. Are you.. worried about me?”

Blue lips thinned. “You _are_ my friend. Even if you're an asshole.”

I snorted. “Calling the ocean wet much?”

“You want another black eye?”

“You want another split lip?”

“Goddess.” Illyan broke in, throwing an oil covered washcloth between us. “Would you two just have sex on the damned workbench already?”

The expression on Trena's face made the momentary embarrassment entirely worth it. “Fucking.. Illyan!”

“I mean, you'd have to get him to cut that damned fur off first.” The big Asari continued on as if she hadn't spoken, “I keep telling you humans aren't bad in bed.”

“If you ever want to end up in between me and Ghai again you will stop fucking talking.” Scales snapped.

Our friend's mouth promptly clicked shut.

“Good girl.” I felt my eyes roll at her tone, while Illyan simply threw her rude gestures with both of her hands. “You decide yet?”

Illyan crossed her arms before biting her lip, “You sure you and Ghai can watch Erana?”

“Athame's ass, of course we can. Ghai's damn near adopted her already.”

“And let's her have too much fucking sugar.” I muttered. “She was practically twitching yesterday. She let her have an entire freaking six pack of demonjuice.”

Both Asari winced. We'd had to deal with the young maiden when she was on a sugar high before, and the experience was always.. harrowing.

“Yeah.. I'll talk with her about that.” Her sister shook her head. “I mean, I can't say that I really want to go to Omega boss. But you need someone besides Rane there to watch the dark tides.”

I blew out slow breath before straightening my back and turning my chair around so that I was facing her directly. Well.. facing her stomach, not that standing would have helped. “Illyan, I'm not pressuring you into this.”

“I know you aren't boss.” An almost crooked grin reminded me that she was still just a maiden herself. “But like Trena said. You're my friend, though I don't think you're an ass.”

“Sailing into shallow water Illyan. Shallow fucking water.”

Our companion rolled her eyes before straightening a bit and then flexing both of her massive arms. Any anger in Trena's face faded as her eyes widened, her mouth working silently as the other Asari purposefully leaned down so that she had a good view down her shirt. “It's awful hot in here boss. Mind if I take my shirt off?”

I snorted, turning away from the scene before my own eyes wandered too much. Instead I started glancing around for the last few pieces I needed to get the grip onto the cane proper. “Ghai would mind.”

“I think they're mostly past the freshly bonded stage.. or else she wouldn't have admitted that I might end up in their bed again.”

“Just keep the screaming down.” Where the fuck was that pin.. aha, there it was. “My room's next to theirs and I hear them enough as it is.”

Trena finally found her voice, or the muscled Asari had stopped giving her a show. “Oh please ape. I didn't bitch when Shaaryak was yelling her bitchy head off.”

“Yes you did.” Illyan and I spoke more or less in chorus.

“I did.. oh go fuck yourselves.”

“I don't care for the long fur. No offense boss.”

I grunted, carefully making sure that the control ports connected properly as I slid the grip into place. “None taken. I don't fancy there being a chance of death during sex, so we're even.”

“Even?” Her shadow shifted the light a bit as she walked closer. “I'm volunteering to go with you to Omega for goddess knows how long boss.”

I had to snort and nod, metal clicking as I locked everything into place. “All right, so I owe you.”

“River District plays at home tonight.” She prompted, a shapely hip appearing to lean against the workbench on my right. “Be _awesome_ if Erana and I had front row seats..”

My eyes rolled a how ready she'd been to throw that out there. “Kick the tickets to my account, but if you fuck up my date I'll beat your blue ass.”

“Wouldn't dream of it boss. Besides, aren't you going to be in a private box anyway?”

I was, but the point still stood. While Rane couldn't have been more different from Nynsi in terms of outward personality if she'd tried, I still wanted to make sure that our first 'big' date was something unique to us. I didn't want to be with her and remember my ex, I wanted to be with her and enjoy just.. being with her.

And given that she enjoyed clawball, and since I had a small fortune available.. I'd gotten us one of the private boxes at the stadium. Plus delivered food and an in-suite bar. Don't ask how much it cost.

“Make sure to check his neck for bite marks after.” Trena chimed in. “It's a _private_ box after all.”

Grabbing my now complete, mine-launching cane, I spun it above my head before bringing the shaft down solidly on my friend's shoulder. She promptly yelped and shoved herself away from the bench. Her chair rolled a meter or so as she glared at me, rubbing where I'd hit her.

“Hurt?”

“Of course it fucking hurt!” She snapped. But as usual her anger quickly faded into an almost thoughtful frown. “Did you add weight to it?”

“It's longer than yours.”

“Shit, that's right. Think adding mass would throw mine off?”

I glanced over at her, only vaguely listening to the clicks and chirps from Illyan's omni-tool as she shopped with my money. “It might.. honestly I'm not sure how well I can use mine one handed as it is. If you add mass to yours you might need to add a grip on top of that.”

“Would rather not.” The rolling chair slid further away as she stood, rubbing her shoulder one last time before walking over to glance over the cane in my hands. “Full tests?”

“Taking it with for my next training run. You want to come with?”

“Tomorrow right? Can't, Ghai and I have to meet with Captain Vasir and start putting our team together.”

“Illyan?”

There was a soft grunt. “Won't be much good to you if I don't get better with my guns. Should probably work on my armor too.”

I waved a hand towards several crates against a wall. “It was on my to-do list anyway.”

And it had been. Now that my cane had finished its conversion from a simple walking stick into an incinerate launching weapon, the next set of items to handle was our armor. I'd had a few ideas on it, and Trena had thrown in her own opinions. Between the two of us we'd come up with enough upgrades that we couldn't fit them all into each of them. Instead we'd sat down and divided up what suit would get what to specialize everything a bit.

I'd gotten into the habit of wearing light armor mostly because it fit into my old exoskeleton, giving me an extra layers of protection. Since that suit was now rusting in pieces on Korlus, and since Shaaryak had seized the replacement that I'd been trying to build, there wasn't any real reason to not go a bit heavier. Shitty reputation or not, I'd grabbed a Batarian State Arms produced Partisan suit largely because I was familiar with Batarian engineering.

Also it had full NBC capability.. and from what I'd heard there were areas on Omega where you definitely wanted your own air supply. Beyond that nifty bonus, while the inexperienced might only see bulky, inefficient designs.. Trena and I saw plenty of room to cram upgrades and add-ons.

“Start putting ideas together for what you might want. We're starting with a back up barrier system tied to a secondary generator on the back, Rane's getting some additional memory drives in her arms to boost her omni-tool's hacking power.”

“Don't think I'll be needing that boss.” Illyan glanced up from her omni-tool. “Let me guess, you're adding bracing to your left leg and a built-in tech launcher?”

“Amongst other things.. Thinking about getting a holdout pistol and working it into a gauntlet. Heat retention would suck but could surprise people. And maybe a one-shot mine in the other to compliment it.”

She snorted. “Athame's ass, that right there is why you shouldn't worry about us Trena. Give him armor and the first thing he wonders is how many extra weapons he can hide in the damn stuff.”

Trena chuckled, but I spoke up before she could. “Yeah, well.. taking out idiot kids in a gang is one thing. But every time I've fought actual soldiers I haven't exactly walked away intact. Figure I should take every advantage I can.”

Some of the mirth faded from both of my friends, Scales noticeably glancing at my oft shot left side. “Still can change your mind ape.”

“I'm going Trena. At least until the True Sons are finally fucking finished.” Turning away from both of them, I laid my cane back down on the bench and stared at the gleaming steel. “After that.. if Omega is as bad as everyone says, I'll think long and hard about staying.”

There was a long exhale before footsteps echoed, a blue hand coming to rest on my shoulder. “Can't fault you for wanting to at least see those fuckers ended ape. Just remember I've lost enough friends in my goddess-damned life. If you end up drowning I'm going to hunt down your shade and fucking beat its ass so hard that you feel it in the afterlife.”

My lips curled a bit. “Understood.. boss.”

Her fingers tightened slightly. “Damned right I am. Now let's get fucking started on that armor.”

* * *

 

**Next up is Prologue 3: The Game**

 

* * *

 

 **Author's Fun Fact: Tech Powers**  

_This is more of a quick note. I'm running with the ME1 type of Tech 'power' rather than the ME2/3 version. So instead of omni-tools magically throwing out incinerates / overloads / etc, instead you need a dedicated tech mine launcher that is linked to the users omni-tool. The omni-tool handles the flight pattern, with adroit users being able to program complicated paths on the fly to ensure that the small grenade hits its target._

_Most launchers hold set numbers of mines/grenades, divided up by the user’s preferred types. Cieran Kean almost exclusively uses incinerates and overloads for example, while Rane'li would carry overloads and sabotage models. 'Leveled up' powers are simply upgraded mines, the cost of acquiring such things typically reserves their use for special forces groups._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. Illyan is officially going with, which divides everyone into two groups of three. Cieran, Rane, and Illyan all going to Omega to support Trisren. While Trena and Ghai stay on Illium with Erana. There will be more details about what everyone is going to be getting up to in specific in the next few chapters, so hang tight.
> 
>  
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	4. The Game

 I don't own the Mass Effect. Obviously wish I did.

* * *

 

 

  **Prologue 3: The Game**

 

* * *

 

I felt my lips thin with irritation as I glared at the person inside of our private box. It was _supposed_ to be empty. It had certainly cost enough to have the box to just me and Rane, plus having dinner and drinks delivered throughout the game.

If Matriarch Aethyta was bothered by my expression, she certainly didn't show it, instead just tossing her head as she worked on fixing herself a drink. She was in a casual white dress, but the skirts were layered enough to hide a small armory. “You two going to get your asses in here or just stand in the damned hall? Nice jerseys by the way, always liked the black ones.”

Letting out a huff of breath, I waved Rane'li in ahead of me before following. We were both wearing the local team's alternates as shirts, which was something else I'd bought for her.

She'd been ecstatic just at the idea of attending a River District game in person. When she'd found out that I'd paid for what essentially amounted to a private room she'd actually been speechless for a few minutes. I'd mentally congratulated myself before waving away her protests that it all was too much.

“Matriarch..” The lowborn woman spoke as we headed for the broad couch facing the window. “From Cieran's expression, your presence is not part of the date.”

“Sorry to crash the party kids, but have some crap to go over with you both.” Liara's muscled father grunted as she mixed liquids together. “Sooner we're done, sooner you can enjoy yourselves.”

It surprised me at just how irritated I actually was... and how much I'd wanted to have an enjoyable night out with Rane. “Get on with it.”

Aethyta threw me a mild look. “Ease off there kid.”

I waved a hand in a vaguely apologetic manner before collapsing onto the couch. Rane joined me a moment later, hesitating for only a second before settling directly beside me. Her skin darkened when I slid an arm around her waist, gently pulling on her until she was leaning against my side.

The broad glass before us gave an excellent view of the oval stadium, fans still filing into the seats as groundskeepers made a few last minute checks to the pitch. “I take it you got my message then.”

“I did.” Pouring orange liquid into three separate glasses, she waved a glowing hand before floating two of them in our direction. Which in itself was a rather terrifying display of biotic control. “Still need at least one more, let's you operate pairs without any issues.”

“I already have the dossiers you sent me.” Reaching up I grabbed the two cups, handing one to Rane as the biotic glow faded. “Or did you have someone in mind?”

“Taking some of them away.” She corrected, striding around the couch to a settle herself in a small chair off to the side. “Few of them have signed on with the other teams and are getting their shit off of Omega. And Tris claimed the Turian twins.”

Dammit, they'd been the ones I'd been hoping to snag. I sipped from the smooth drink, enjoying the way the various flavors covered up any trace of alcohol. Dammit again. It was hard to stay annoyed with Aethyta when she made drinks like this. “Who does that leave me?”

“All of the tier one candidates are out to sea. That doesn't leave you with anyone terribly trustworthy kid.” It was her turn for her lips to thin. “I know you're going to hate this, but you might want to check out the slave markets.”

Rane stilled a bit as I growled, taking a very long pull from my glass. “You're right, I don't fucking like that idea.”

“I'm not saying you don't free whoever you buy kid, give them a damned job on top of it.”

“Just no going vigilante and killing the people running it.”

“Yeah. None of that shit.”

Blowing a breath out of my nose, I managed a tight nod. “I'll think about it.”

“All I can say. If you really want to just run with three you probably could, but I wouldn't recommend it.” It didn't exactly sound good to me either. We'd have to sleep in some odd fucking shifts to make sure that two of us were awake at all times to mind the store, and who the hell knew how we'd get anything over to Tris. No way I'd send Rane or Illyan out alone, or leave only one person behind. Somehow I didn't think she'd be terribly happy if she always had to send her own people over. “Apart from that, have the rest of the details for you. Suppliers, location, all that crap.”

Giving Rane an apologetic glance, which earned me an understanding smile. “I'm going with, remember?”

“Fair point.” Though I was still a little annoyed, this really could have waited. Still, irritated or not, I waved my glass in the Matriarch's direction. “Suppliers first, what are we looking at?”

“Acolytes, Disciples, Watchers. Mostly older models, there's a few corps on planet that I've strung deals with for you.” Her lips curled with amusement. “Shaaryak Arm's tech mines.”

Rane spat some of her drink back into her cup, and I could only stare blankly. “How?”

“Three dummy corps shifting assets to a trading house willing to ship crap to Omega.” Aethyta looked more than slightly pleased with herself. “Feel free to help yourself to a few crates.”

I certainly fucking would. “Any other pleasant surprises?”

“Not from a products standpoint. Mix of Batarian and Human guns, better than what most of those poor idiots on Omega can afford but nothing special by our standards. Should keep most of the riffraff from shopping there, restrict your clientele to the people I actually want to hear about.”

While also not actually providing them with high level weaponry. Even the mines that Trena and I had designed for Nynsi to produce weren't all that awesome. Better than the mass produced crap most armies used, sure, but we just hadn't had the precision tools needed to make commando or Spectre level equipment.

My lowborn girlfriend leaned forwards slightly, her lower eyes watching the players arriving on the field below us while her upper set stayed on Aethyta. And I belatedly wanted to hit myself for being an idiot. Of _course_ Rane didn't mind her being there as much as I did. She could fucking watch the game with one set of eyes and focus on Aethyta with the other.

“Have you heard anything about the power armor?”

“Only that she's clearing out an old factory and buying shit that could be used to produce exoskeletons.”

I couldn't stop a scowl. “Seriously? Been gone for two fucking months and she's already trying to use my blueprints?”

“Did you expect anything different?”

“No, but.. shit. Any chance you can get us a prototype if they get to production?”

Aethyta rolled her eyes. “She wasn't born yesterday kid. Getting you a few crates of grenades is one thing, not going to be calm seas if I try for that.”

One of Rane's hands patted my leg, though she seemed equally irritated that Nynsi would be making money off of work that we'd done. “I'm sure we could find a construction model on Omega, we could always reconfigure it as before.”

“I'd rather you didn't.” Liara's father threw back the last of her drink before continuing. “Face it, the stories about the only human with a Batarian title and his makeshift power armor are fairly well known at this point. Rather defeats the point of being spies don't you think?”

A slow breath escaped my nose. “You have a fake ID for me then?”

Blue lips thinned. “I do. I've also got another request kid.”

“Sounds ominous.”

She spoke as if I hadn't. “We've got nothing on the Matriarch who attacked you and the others, even after a year of work. There's been a few new cases of Floating Mind in Citadel space but nothing that sets off my storm warnings. I need a way to set off whatever alerts she's got to monitor you.”

Rane slid all of her eyes in my direction, her expression shifting to one of concern. “You want to fake his death.”

“That'd be the logical thing to do, yeah. Probably an isolated aircar crash in Vasir's jurisdiction. Quick report that you were drinking heavily, private services with T'laria and her bondmate as the only attendees.”

Swallowing the last of my drink, I set the glass on the floor before rubbing my face with my left hand.

“Cieran?”

Taking a short breath, I nodded before taking a moment to collect my thoughts.

The more I'd thought on the Matriarch, the less I'd liked what I'd come up with. She had said she wanted to improve things, make shit better, and that's what her Chosen One was for.. but she hadn't said how. Or for who. Shitty as the Reaper War had been, I couldn't think of anything that Shepard could really do to have improved things. Even her death had bought the galaxy two years. That had been wasted, sure, but it had still been additional time that they might not have had if Shep had kept stirring up shit.

If she was serious about making crap better, I'd have expected.. you know, improvements already in the works. Fleet build ups, largely military budgets, things like that. But I hadn't seen anything like that on the news. In contrast, the Asari Republics actually seemed to be likely to _decrease_ the size of their armed forces in the coming years.. and apart from the military itself I hadn't heard of much opposition.

Which was really fucking worrying.

“I don't mind the idea as a concept, especially if it gives you a lead on that bitch. You have a name and stuff lined up?”

“Geoffery Kie MacKeanen. You'll need to color that fur a different color, and either cut it or let it grow even longer. I'm also bringing in a human agent to get some fake scars on that pale skin before you leave. Not enough to fool a biometric scan but if they're applied in the right spots they can at least throw some doubt on just a facial analysis.”

I couldn't stop a snort. “You don't think that the name's a little too obvious?”

“You said it yourself kid. You're not exactly spy material, neither are you girl. Need it close enough that you can get away with what your friends might call you anyway. And besides, it's so damned overt nobody would believe you're stupid enough to use it as an alias.” Which was actually a good point. “There's a tablet on the bar with your new background. Memorize it, going to have T'laria's bondmate quiz you daily.”

Awesome.

The warm hand on my leg gave it a gentle squeeze. “If the Hegemony believes you to be dead, that would be... advantageous as well.”

Translation, none of the high families would send assassins or SIU teams after the human who had dared be named into their ranks. Not that they'd do it openly, they were big on avoiding precedents. Former Harath'krem weren't people you had killed, they were people you hired as mercenaries. Usually as agents to help you go after whoever had just fired them. Or at least, that was the normal order of things if the Reyja'krem was anything but a member of _homo sapiens._

“Assuming Shaaryak doesn't figure it out,” I kept my voice even, glancing away from both of them to watch the game in progress below. It was still early in the first, the small gray sphere that was the ball sailing into the air as uniformed Asari flitted across the grass. “And tell them. She isn't stupid.”

“She's on the outs with the Hegemony just for leaving you alive. Plus the whole trade deal falling apart.” The shrug was audible in Aethyta's voice. “I don't doubt that she'll connect the sea to the shore, but they haven't given her any reasons to tell them about it.”

Rane and I shared a glance of disbelief. Not that I doubted that the Hegemony had shot themselves in the foot, Balak was more than capable of fucking up anything that required tact and diplomacy, but my ex and I hadn't parted on anything like good terms.

“You may wish to communicate that it would be a poor idea for her to do so.” Rane's low voice was carefully tactful. “To ensure clarity on her part.”

“...just fucking ask me to blackmail her girl, don't be so uptight about it.”

My companion gave me a slightly helpless glance, all of her eyes flicking to mine. That was about as verbally direct as she could get to threatening a highborn without a lot of time to focus on getting the words out. “Blackmail her only if you have to. She holds grudges.”

There was a snort. “I'll talk with her. So long as you lot can handle your part, you shouldn't have Batarian agents on your tails. Goddess knows you'll have enough crap to worry about on station without that kind of shit distracting you.”

After that, the conversation went onto some of the other details. We'd be setting up at the edge of Talon territory, in the Fumi district. Close enough to the dividing line between it and Aria's Tuhi zone that other groups could reach us to make purchases, but also secure enough that we'd hopefully be able to dodge the random riots and gang wars that plagued the place. Trisren had found a safe-house of her own in Tuhi, close enough that she could support us if we needed the help.

Once we had that down, the rest was fairly boring. What comm channels to use, what circumstances would warrant what emergency measure, the best ways to secure the location, that kind of thing. One temporary sticking point was that I wanted to have a secure line from our new shop back to Illium. Being able to pick Trena's brain, as well as stay up to date on her half of the investigation, without needing to go through Tris would be nice.

Plus it would let Illyan message Erana at will.

By the time Aethyta was satisfied that we had everything we needed for now and had departed it was half time. Just to rub some salt in my wounds, I'd missed all four goals that the local team had scored and Rane was pretty sure that we'd be subbing out our best players in the second half.

“So much for our date.” I sighed, not really watching the biotic artists putting on the halftime show. Aehtyta had had the decency to mix us two more drinks by way of apology before she'd left, and we were both sipping from them as we waited for the game to resume.

“It could have been worse.” Rane pointed out quietly, her solid body carefully leaning into my side. “Even if it will take me a while to call you.. Geoffery?”

My lips twisted in displeasure at the reminder. “Please don't.”

“Kie then.” Her head shifted so that she could brush her mouth against my cheek. “If that is acceptable.”

“In public.” I hesitated for a moment before turning, catching her lips with mine before she could pull back. She froze in surprise at the touch, only slowly returning the gentle kiss. I allowed myself to enjoy the motions for a while before I pulled away, a soft exhale her only protest that I had stopped. “In private.. I would vastly prefer Cieran. I'd rather not forget my name.”

There was a tiny nod, an almost deliriously happy expression on her face. It wasn't that hard to figure out why. That had been the first full kiss that I'd actually initiated. “Cieran..”

Shifting I bit, I tightened my right arm around her waist before using it to shift us a bit. Her head found its way back to my shoulder, a small sound of contentment escaping the lowborn as I held her. Which made me feel a little bad about continuing with the serious conversation.. or rather, starting the conversation I'd wanted to lead this date with in the first place.

“Rane.. you're doing better about.. you know.” Nice. Way to use your words Cieran. “I mean, you're still a bit..”

“Deferential? Submissive?” Her voice was low, but not upset like I'd worried she might get. “I've talked with Trena more than once about.. well, you. She says that you want a partner, not a subordinate.”

She wasn't wrong, “Please tell me you haven't been trying to change just for that.”

“I won't deny that it was a factor, but it was not the only one.” She shifted a bit further, her right arm reaching across her body so that her fingers could absently play with my facial hair. “When you spoke with me, and visited when I was in the hospital, you acted as if my former caste didn't matter. You just.. treated me as if I was...”

“You had just saved my life.”

“And you had saved mine in return. It wasn't as if that.. that.. _chenethic_ asshole would have let me live.” I failed entirely to smother a grin at the curse. Not that I really tried. “I just.. after I recovered, and you and Trena began helping me.. I wanted to just be.. one of you. No caste. No cultural rules. Just.. friends.”

There was a soft sound as she shifted again, hand dropping to my shirt to press against my sternum. “I saw how Chen and Marn acted around you. They were polite but still.. distant. They acted like the midcaste that they are.. were, and you never really..”

“Became friends.” I supplied. We really hadn't, come to think of it. Chen and I had gotten along fairly well initially, far better than I and Marn had ever managed. But as time had gone by the sniper and I had definitely stayed rather distant when not in combat situations. We'd never gone out for drinks or just hung out. “Rane, I'm not.. saying that I mind some of the things you do. It's.. a nice change of pace. But like you said.. I don't want you to do things just because I say so, or stay quiet just because I made my opinion known.”

“Like going to Omega?”

“Like that, yeah.”

She was silent for a moment, the pair of us watching as the players slowly began to return. When she did speak, it was clear that she was choosing each word carefully. “Even if he and I weren't together, I would wish to accompany my friend. I.. cannot promise that it will always be easy for me, but I will endeavor to make my opinions known. You.. don't mind me being..?”

Tilting my neck, I let my cheek rest on her forehead. “Deferential? Polite? Honestly I'm getting a bit attached to it. Use all the polite language you want, so long as you let me know what you're thinking.”

Another bit of silence was broken when she blurted out a single word. “Black.”

I blinked in confusion. “Black?”

“Your fur. You.. should color it black.” I could practically feel her skin heating up. “And let it grow longer instead of cutting it.”

My lips curled at the edges. “I'll keep that in mind. No more serious talk this half?”

Her only reply was to nuzzle her head into my shoulder a bit more, sighing quietly as I held onto her.

* * *

 

 

**Next up is Prologue 4: The Farewell**

 

* * *

 

**Author's Fun Fact: The Reapers & Cieran Kean**

_A few people noted this in Arrival, and occasionally in Terminus, but Cieran's opinion on the upcoming war has never really been detailed. Between the Matriarch's threats and his own conviction that no one would actually believe him if he revealed the 'truth', the extent of his planning was making sure that he and his companions were combat ready when the time came. At the time that meant Nynsi, Trena, and the mansion's staff and inhabitants._

_But with his exile and his internal promise to make things better for Trena & Ghai's daughter, there will be some forward planning occurring during Ronin as far as the future war goes. That the day of the Reapers' return looks far closer as the timeframe for ME1 approaches is another motivator, alongside his increasing paranoia as to just what the Matriarch is/was up to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Finally some more details about what's coming on Omega, and Cieran and Rane talk a little bit about their relationship. So long as she manages to let him know what she's thinking, such as when she believes he's being an idiot, he doesn't mind her using polite and deferential language. What matters to him is that she's voicing her opinion, not the manner in which she does it.
> 
>  
> 
> The next chapter will be the final prologue chapter, and from the name it should be pretty obvious what it covers. After that, we'll be on Omega and into the story proper.
> 
>  
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	5. The Farewell

 I don't own the Mass Effect series. 

* * *

 

 

**Prologue 4: The Farewell**

 

* * *

 

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, mildly astounded at what had been done to.. well, me. It had been a week since Aethyta had sic'd her people on me and I still wasn't used to it.

My once light brown hair was now jet black, with a single neon blue highlight running along the entire left side. Apparently it would draw people's attention away from my face, giving them something else to remember when they tried to recall what I looked like. Even my mustache and goatee had the damn stripe on that side, and the facial hair itself was being allowed to grow out. In a few weeks I'd be like Fili from the Hobbit movies and be able to braid the damned thing. I was still keeping my cheeks clean shaven though. Keeping my hair clean was going to be enough of a pain without also having a full beard to deal with.

As for the rest of my face.. I now had fake scars more or less glued onto it. One ran from my right temple to my jawline, while another stretched from just to the left of my nose all the way to my ear. Toss in long-term contact lenses that colored my eyes from their normal dull green to a faded blue and I almost didn't recognize myself.

“This is going to take some fucking getting used to.” I muttered, reaching up tie my hair back.

“Don't worry ape. I'm sure Rane will still want to rip your pants off.” Trena snorted from the doorway, tipping back the dark bottle she was enjoying. “Or has that happened already?”

“Not that it's any of your fucking business, but no, it hasn't.”

“Athame's ass ape. It's been months since you've gotten any and I've told you that's not fucking natural.” Blue skin twisted as she glowered at me. “And don't even get me fucking started on how long it's been for her.”

“Scales.”

The hand holding the bottle waved. “No talking about your sex life, yeah yeah. You don't mind me talking about mine.”

“That's because you're you. I'd have to stitch your mouth shut to get you to _not_ talk about yours.” She snorted before nodding in bemused acceptance of the point. “How'd my fake funeral go?”

“About how you'd expect.”

We'd put Aethyta's plan into motion the day before my make-over, with the understanding that I'd be stuck inside of the house after. Which wasn't really all that bad, there were about a million tiny fucking details that I'd had to handle it that timeframe.

As far as the plan itself, things had seemed to go off without any issues. Trena and I had flown back to my old apartment, and had a few drinks. Not enough to inebriate ourselves for once, just enough to make our faux-stumbling believable for anyone who happened to be watching. Staggering back to my aircar, we'd had the VI fly an extremely erratic pattern that led us to Khar'shan Minor. Once we'd crossed the district line we'd gone into a sharp dive, managing a mostly controlled crash in a small park. Captain Vasir had some of her older officers, matrons that we'd met before, on a routine pattern nearby to make sure that they were the first ones on the scene.

They'd dragged me out of the vehicle while I acted like I was deadweight.. which I mostly was. Our controlled crash had ended up a little heavy on the crash half thanks to a buried something or another. Whatever it was, it had sent us in a skidding roll and left both of us more than a little dazed. They'd thrown me into one of their patrol cars and raced to the small medical attachment to the I-Sec complex where the medic had looked me over before cheerfully announcing that I was deceased. And also slightly concussed. But mostly deceased.

After that, things had progressed quickly. Detective Wear'an had smuggled me out in her personal car, getting me back to the safehouse while Trena, Ghai, and Captain Vasir handled my 'remains'. I'd gotten a routine announcement the next day, buried with a dozen other accidental deaths, stating that my neck had broken after a drunken crash, and that I'd would be cremated as per my will. My various bank accounts had shifted around, eventually transferring all of their money to Trena's.

“Please don't tell me that you blew any of my money on it.”

Trena snorted again. “Goddess no. There's a box somewhere with wood ash in it that's supposedly you, Vasir waved the costs 'in light of your services' or some shit like that. Might have already thrown it out.”

“Good.” The idea of having a box around with my name on it and filled with ashes was.. creepy as shit. Made worse by remembering that I'd come pretty damned close to being permanently dead not more than a few months ago. “How's Erana doing?”

I turned in time to see her give a little Asari shrug. “She's keeping it together. Ghai bought her thirty or so fucking Turian novels on top of those human ones you got her.”

A small smile split my face. “More ones on ships?”

Her eyes rolled. “I don't get her damned obsession with them, but yeah. Shit, if it keeps her mind off crap, suppose I can't complain.”

Erana, as it turned out, had a minor obsession with historical ships. Water borne ones, rather than their space faring cousins. She apparently had several data drives full of romantic nostalgia concerning the fleets of Thessia's past, and now thanks to Ghai and myself she was expanding into other species. We'd also helped Illyan pick out a model kit of the _HMS Victory_ as something to help keep her busy. To say that she'd been ecstatic at the gift would be understating things.

Of course, it had also reignited my own interest in that kind of thing.. and I might have downloaded a few dozen books on the Turian bluewater dreadnought age myself.

“You sure you'll be all right taking care of her?”

“She'll be fine ape. Might get her a job with Aethyta, bartending, not shooting. Something to keep her blue head occupied.”

I grunted, reaching behind me to rest my hands on the bathroom's counter. “Illyan all right with that?”

“Eternity or nothing.”

Which would keep her in a relatively civilized area, and close to Aethyta herself. Hopefully she didn't end up head over heels for any of the space pilots that frequented the place.

“I'm guessing they're saying goodbye right now?”

“Yeah.” The bottle tipped back again, staying that way until she apparently finished it. “You got all your shit?”

“Unless you moved it from the living room.”

“Didn't.”

I nodded as if that was important, the two of us just.. kind of standing there. Not really looking at each other, letting the awkward silence stretch out.

After maybe three minutes, she broke a few heartbeats before I did. “Shit ape. Are we going to just keep standing here like fucking idiots or are we going to figure out how to fucking say this?”

“So long as you don't try to say goodbye the same way you did with Illyan.” My head shook. “Athame's ass, I barely got any damned sleep with all the noise.”

“Oh, so it's fine when _you_ bring sex into the fucking conversation? Hypocritical dick.”

I snorted. “I never really pictured you as the submissive one Scales.”

Her skin darkened. “Ape.”

“It was kind of hard to miss Illyan yelling at you to-” A blue hand shoved itself across my mouth.

“Fucking shit ape! I was there, all right!?”

My eyes rolled, an arm rising to knock hers away. “Shit scales. You don't mind giving me details account of what you and Ghai do, but Illyan has her fun with you two and you turn into a blushing maiden.”

“I said I was..” her voice trailed as her eyes narrowed. “You're trying to get me to hit you.”

“Only so I can hit you back.”

A blue fist promptly slammed into my chest, rocking me back before I reciprocated with a jab to her shoulder. We both stood there for a long moment before she stepped a bit closer, reaching up to grab my neck as she bowed her head. I let her slowly pull me down until our foreheads were touching, both of us looking at our feet.

“I meant that shit about beating up your ghost ape.”

“I know scales.” I felt my lips curl a bit. “If you get killed by some Hegemony thug I'm going to drag your ass out of the sea and smack you senseless.”

“Deal.. Cieran.” A long exhale broke her words. “You better fucking send messages. And take care of Rane and Illyan.”

“You know I will Trena. Just make sure Erana is safe. And try to keep Ghai from doing anything stupid.”

She snorted, hand pulling away as she slowly stepped back. “Easier said then done ape. Maybe I'll tie her to a chair or something until the kid gets here.”

“Have fun with that.” Giving a last glance at myself in the mirror, I waved her on, hitting the lights on my way out. “Everyone ready?”

One of her shoulders twitched as we slowly made our way down the hall. “Should be. Eclipse team is waiting with the ship, Sederis wants a discount of fifteen for her people.”

I grunted. “Tell her that's fair, and that we're even.”

Given that we didn't exactly have a ship of our own to use, and given that we needed to haul quite a bit of merchandise and equipment, Trena had taken it upon herself to talk with Sederis about getting us there. Aethyta had been rather incensed until Scales had pointed out that it would take the Eclipse's leader all of a minute to recognize the three of us when her people reported our shop opening.

It would also work to give us some cache to be sponsored by the group, along with the simple help of having extra hands to help us get crap setup over the first few days. After that they'd be leaving of course, we wouldn't have a permanent guard or anything. But still, as with everything the start was crucial and it would be good to have them around for that.

“Who'd we get? Please tell me it isn't Washana.”

“Goddess no, she'd totally defeat the idea of having you not be you ape. Remember Elissa from Korlus? Her and a few other vets that Sederis says can keep their mouths shut.”

I vaguely remembered the human lieutenant, though I had no idea who she might be bringing with. “That's something.”

The pair of us emerged into the living room as we spoke, the house's other occupants already there and waiting. Illyan and Erana were hugging and speaking quietly to each other near the door, while Rane fussed over the large cases containing our clothes, and Ghai slowly rose from where she'd been sitting on the couch.

“No bruises.” Her raspy voice sounded mildly surprised as she glanced over us. “All right?”

Trena groaned. “We're fine Ghai. We don't _always_ have to beat the crap out of each other.”

Her bondmate gave her a look that made it clear that she didn't believe that for a second, before smoothing her features out and turning back to me. “Ready?”

“To go to Omega and sell guns to people who'd kill me for a single credit?” My head shook slightly. “I am totally fucking ready. Was born ready.”

“You forgot spying on merc groups for a Matriarch who spends her time fucking bartending.” Trena pointed out for me.

“Oh yeah. That too.”

Ghai stared at us for a long moment before sighing, crossing the distance, bringing her flesh and blood hand up and punching me lightly on the sternum. “Ass.”

Reaching up I rubbed my chest in mock outrage. “Scales said crap too.”

“Later.” Trena groaned as Ghai threw her a mild look before turning back to me. “Ready?”

A slow breath escaped my nose before I nodded very slightly, “I'll have Rane and Illyan, and from what Aethyta's told me our place is basically a small fortress. Going to spend the first profits we make on some mechs to supplement the defense. We'll be all right.”

The stoic Asari grunted quietly, “Messages?”

Her bondmate spoke for me, “Aethyta's people are setting up a secure link for us tomorrow, should be ready by the time they get there and get their shit setup.”

“Good.” Ghai's lips twitched before lowering her voice enough to speak a full sentence. “Need your help shooting her names down.”

“There's nothing wrong with my damned names.” We both turned to stare at her, which only made her scowl deepen. “Nothing human at least ape.”

I was quick to spread my hands apart defensively. “Yell at her, not me.”

“I'm going to.”

The taller Asari let out a rasping growl. “Try.”

There was a quiet sigh as Rane joined us, slowly moving to stand beside Ghai while I pointedly shifted a few steps away from Trena. “Could we at least leave before the two of you try to kill one another? Or leave _more_ bloodstains on the floor?”

“That was entirely his fucking fault. If he hadn't been fucking moping around I wouldn't have had to beat his ass.”

The lowborn merely sniffed disdainfully, all of her eyes half-closing as she stared Trena down. “I am quite sure that there were better methods of resolving Cieran's issues than the method you chose.”

“Yeah. You could have just walked into his room naked.” My fist promptly slammed into her arm, making the short alien yelp in pain. “Fucking.. shit ape!”

Rane tipped her head tot he left in thanks, the motion not doing much to hide the bit of a flush on her cheeks. “Thank you Cie.”

“She deserves it.”

“Does.” Ghai agreed.

Trena tried to puff herself up with anger before slumping a bit, “Fuck all of you.”

“I think your bondmate will need some expensive wine, and maybe a handmade dinner before she would.” Scales gave me a look of betrayal even as Ghai seemed silently pleased at the idea. “She's earned it Trena.”

“But.. shit. Fine, I'll think of something.” She shook her head slowly. “It'll be something to do. Will be weird without you three around.”

“Quieter.” Her bondmate murmured, shaking her head before stepping over to Rane and stunning the lowborn with a hug. I couldn't suppress a smile as the Batarian woman hesitantly returned the commando's affection, the moment lasting until Ghai pulled away. I couldn't quite make out what she said after that, but it made Rane's skin darken heavily as her mouth opened a bit in shock.

If that wasn't surprising enough, the Asari wasted little time in shifting over towards me before I found myself pulled into an embrace as well.

“What did you say to her?” I kept my voice low enough that only she should hear me.

“For later.” There was a slow breath, her voice scratchy as she forced more words out. “I'll take care of her for you Cieran.”

A soft sigh came out as I hugged her back, her prosthetic hand patting my back. “Thanks Ghai.”

We broke apart without anymore words, Trena and Rane bumping fists as they quietly said their own farewells. Behind them the sisters finally broke apart, Illyan shuffling a little awkwardly before waving for her sister to come over and see us before we left. The growing maiden was near tears but somehow kept her composure as she threw herself into hugs with myself and Rane, extracting promises that we would take care of her sister and make sure that she messaged her.

After a bit of hesitation Illyan came over and managed to sweep both Ghai and Trena up into a dual-bear hug, both of them protesting only for a few minutes before taking turns giving her short kisses. She and scales got a little too into it until Erana and I pelted the pair of them some of the loose snacks from the counter.

A few minutes later found the three of us that were going with our bags thrown over our shoulders, large suitcases carrying more equipment in our hands as we headed out towards the waiting aircar.

Letting the other two go on ahead, I lingered back to give Trena a list light hit on her shoulder, which she reciprocated with a small grin.

“You come up with any more ideas I'd better fucking hear about them ape.”

“Same scales. Take care of Ghai and Erana.” I paused for a deliberate beat before shrugging slightly, “Oh, and yourself I suppose.”

“Asshole.”

“Tit.”

Turning away, I gave her half wave before heading to the car. And from there, onto Omega.

 

* * *

 

 

** **End Prologue – Departures** **

  

* * *

 

 

** _**Next up is Act 1 – Descent** _ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah.. farewells are hard to write, especially with a relationship as complex as Cieran & Trena's. Hopefully this came off all right, and wraps up things on Illium for now. In the next chapter, the story will begin properly as they arrive on Omega and work out how everything is going to go down on the station.
> 
>  
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	6. Act 1: The Store

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Act 1: The Descent**

_Date: 09-15-2181_

* * *

 

**Chapter 1: The Store**

Our building was one of the older ones on Omega, in the heart of what had been one of the early efforts by Turians to create a city within the asteroid. The result was something that looked kind of like those Native American buildings built into canyon walls in the southwest, a multi-level city shoved directly into the rock with artificial 'streets' jutting out into the air. Most of the structures, including ours, only had a slapdash bit of gray paint which didn't do much for the local ambiance. The place did gave us a hell of a view of the station's core though. The 'air' filled with Aria's eezo vessels coming and going while the Pirate Queen watched from the massive complex that was Afterlife.

The store itself stood relatively alone, with a few meters of open space on either side before the next buildings. It was three stories, with the 'ground' floor jutting out enough for some of it's roof to act as a patio for the second. Said patio conveniently had reinforced chest high walls and excellent sight lines up and down the street. Between us and the Eclipse help we'd gotten all of the merchandise setup on the first floor, while turning the second into our own work area. The third had a small kitchen and adjoined living area, with a short hallway leading to four studio sized rooms.

But while we'd managed to get everything from the docks and to the store without too much trouble, we hadn't made much progress after that. Not because we were tired.. but because someone had apparently felt like starting a riot just down the street. And since everyone on this station was apparently armed, we more or less had to be ready for people to try and swarm us to get the expensive weaponry inside at any time.

So far Rane, Illyan, and one of the three Eclipse mercs were currently camped out on the patio. Once and a while they'd fire off a shot, warning off the rioters who got too close. Not that we were drawing too much attention right now, most of the crowd's effort seemed to be directed at the Talons who were increasingly moving in to try and calm shit down.

While they did that, myself and the the other two Eclipse mercenaries were more or less lounging in the kitchen on the third floor and waiting to see if we were needed.

“This happen often?” I asked as I stretched out my left leg, making sure that my weaponized cane was still in easy reach.

Formerly a mere Lieutenant, now Captain Elissa Themes rolled her eyes as she nodded tiredly. A dark skinned human, she had tribal style tattoos on each cheek that lent her a dangerous edge. Like me she spoke in Thessian rather than English, though her accent was more melodic than my crisp Illium edge. “Welcome to fucking Omega.”

“Statistically rare in this district.” The third individual present was a gray skinned Salarian who apparent went by Ticker, apparently his actual name was too much of a mouthful for us humans. “Especially since the Talons reformation. I wouldn't expect more than one per month.”

Groaning a bit at that, I brought an armored hand up to rub tiredly at my face. “At least we got all of our shit here before it started.”

Elissa shrugged, a yellow pauldron rising and falling. “Even if we hadn't that's why you've got us for the next three days. Even those street punks are smart enough to not want to tangle with the Eclipse.”

“No offense Captain, but you have a lot more faith than I do.” My head shook slightly. “Shit. I killed enough kids from Omega on Illium. Couldn't fault the bravery, but shit they were idiots.”

Ticker nodded, the motion quick and jerkish. “Quite agree with Kean.. MacKeanen, apologies. Stupidity a depressingly common trait on this station, particularly amongst the lower classes. Would likely have had to kill quite a few before they understood the idiocy of their actions.”

She conceded the point with a vague wave of her hand. “Not liked they'd be a loss.”

“Probably not.” I agreed, but still shook my head slightly, “But I'd rather not have any more dead people haunting me. Have enough of those already. I'm just glad that the Talons are dealing with that shit and that we got everything here.”

Elissa's eyes narrowed a bit. “That's.. not quite what I expected from you.”

I sighed and closed mine. “I don't have any issues killing people who are trying to kill me. Doesn't mean I want to go outside and just shoot people for the fun of it.”

There was a quiet grunt. “Not what I meant. Sederis said you had a Batarian noble title and were all honorable and shit like that. Figured you'd be worried about the people out there and trying to go out there and calm things down or something.”

“Did you know that the Batarian word for _noble_ is awfully similar to their word for _practical?”_

Ticker chuckled. “Not going to risk your life if there is not an appreciable gain? Perhaps you could do well in the Eclipse.”

“No thanks.” The idea of having Sederis as my _boss_ was too terrifying to even properly contemplate. Between that and the general discomfort of having to talk about myself with relative strangers, I shifted to bring my omnitool up. “Rane, how's it look outside?”

There was a moment before her voice echoed from my wrist. “ _The Talons have corralled them about a block down the street, a pair of Krogan in their armor just showed up so I'd expect it to be over soon.”_

“Well that's something. Keep me updated.”

“ _As you say Kie.”_

“So. Opening for business soon?”

I snapped my omnitool off and glanced at the Eclipse Captain. “Why? You already want to spend your boss's money?”

“I seem to remember ripping a piece of steel from your leg before pouring medigel into it.”

My mouth quirked a bit. “Already have something in mind then?”

Brown lips pulled away from her teeth as she leaned forwards onto the table. “Your Asari was talking about some of the stuff you've done with your armor, and how you scratch built that damned suit you had on Korlus. Think you can give me a redundant barrier network and a few extra strike plates?”

“The latter, sure, that's not hard. The former though..” Bringing a hand up I stroked my neatly trimmed beard. “I owe you, sure, but that's not cheap. I'll do the labor for free but the parts will need to be paid for.”

“Fine. But I want a holdout knife in on my right forearm with a spring release tied to my omnitool.” Her head cocked to one side thoughtfully. “And a better way to hold my medical gear.”

“All right, but _just_ this. And _only_ for you.” Ticker's mouth snapped shut before he could speak. “I'll do work for your guys but I'll need payment for it, Eclipse discount of course.”

“Yeah yeah, can't set a bad precedent. I get it.” Armor creaked as Elissa groaned and stretched her arms out. “I'll get my spare sent to you once I can get back to the ship. How long you think?”

Mentally reviewing my schedule, I spoke slowly as my agenda ticked itself off. “Figure a few days for the work itself, but tomorrow Rane and I are going to markets. Days after that are meetings that the old fish setup on my behalf with the Talons and the White Tigers to work out sales. You staying on station after you're done playing bodyguard to us?”

“For a week, at least. Have to pick up some recruits from Jaroth and help him slap down the Brotherhood.”

Ticker made a.. well, ticking sound with his teeth. “Speaking of the markets, are you sure about your plan? I don't think that Sederis would be very pleased if you were to die so quickly.”

I rolled my eyes at his overwhelming concern. “So long as I don't take my helmet off and stick to Batarian, we should be good with the Captain and Jakari staying at a distance.”

That was the theory, anyway. On paper it seemed like a decent enough plan. We'd painted our armor plain black during the trip to Omega, and so long as mine stayed on there wasn't anything to distinguish me from a freshly exiled Batarian. Provided that I could keep my composure and not just shoot the assholes selling people as if they were property that is.

We didn't really have to go 'undercover', but Aethyta had insisted that we at least make the effort. If we were going to be spies, even just mediocre ones, we had to start somewhere and this seemed a simple enough way to do it.

“You have your targets picked out then?” The Captain asked, head tilting to one side as the gunfire and shouting on the streets rose to a crescendo before cutting out.

“Three possibles. The other two were apparently already sold.” I felt a muscle in my cheek twitch. “Two Turians and a Quarian. All three have technical expertise, combat experience, and reputations for being unruly with their owners.”

She grunted. “The Quarian, Flotilla or Terminus?”

“Terminus according to the advertisement.” A grimace followed. “Hopefully they're being honest with that.”

I hadn't even known that there was, more or less, an entirely different Quarian 'race' until we'd been _en route_ to Omega. After a few fortifying drinks, I really hadn't wanted to go through what were basically flyers to slaves sober, I'd started combing through what was publicly out there. Ideally we wanted someone with engineering experience who could also fight, and who wouldn't mind sticking around to have a job after we freed them.

As I'd gone through them, I'd noticed that what few Quarians were on the market were designated as either 'Flotilla' or 'Terminus'. After staggering my way to Elissa's rooms I'd asked her about it, and she'd more or less laid it out for me. Terminus Quarians were descendents of refugees, slaves, exiles, or distant colonies who had elected to not join the Migrant Fleet after the geth rebellion. Instead they'd more or less gone independent, using their technical skills to barter with the local warlords for the goods and services they needed to stay alive. There'd even been a short lived attempt to create their own tiny 'nation' that had lasted for a decade or so before the Blood Pack had stomped down hard.

At the end of the day, they were the same species as Tali and her people.. but that was about it. Their immune systems, though still weak, hadn't atrophied. And the communal society had been shattered by the realities of Terminus life a long, long time ago. In many ways they were a lot like the settlers who'd gone West in my old America. Very much a rough and tumble kind of people who sneered at the 'coddled' pilgrims from the Flotilla and had little interest in the 'civilization' offered by the Citadel.

But it was the immune system thing that was big. A Terminus Quarian could usually get by with something like a gas mask rather than a full suit, though on Omega they usually went suited just like their cousins to avoid the billion and a half pathogens in the air. On the same token, this made them more valuable.. and more expensive. It apparently wasn't unheard of for slavers to grab unwary Quarians on their pilgrimage and dress them up like their Terminus kin. If they sold them quickly enough, they wouldn't die from exposure until after the transaction.

“Depends on the seller. And the market.” Elissa glanced at her subordinate, “Ticker? You know Omega better than I do.”

The Salarian twitched a little nod. “Which market? Tuhi Deck C is overseen by Aria's people and is typically the most reliable.”

Bringing my arm up I snapped my omni-tool open, flicking my fingers until my notes came up. “One of the Turians and the Quarian are there. The other is Kenzo, B deck.”

His broad mouth thinned. “The last is likely a lost cause. Blood Pack territory, likely nothing near what advertised. Possibly entirely faked. Could be purchasing a Turian chef, or murderer with a terminal disease.”

“Great. Two options then. And hoping that the old fish doesn't howl at the prices.”

“Could be worse.” Ticker shrugged. “Could be Drell. Easily most expensive.”

I gave him a flat look. “You know I hate slavers right?”

“Of course. Not one myself, but was my job to inform Commander Jaroth of such things.” Another rapid shrug. “Mostly left that business to the Blue Suns, preferred gun running and selling mechs. Less hassle. Still, an efficient means to dispose of prisoners. Provides additional gain beyond simply removing them as opponents.”

His Captain, unlike him, apparently noticed the way my fingers were tightening as he kept fucking talking. “Ticker. Shut your fucking mouth and go relieve Jakari before you piss him off some more.”

The Salarian's wide eyes blinked rapidly before he rose. Without another word he glided over to the stairwell before vanishing downwards. Once he'd gone I managed to take a few breaths and relax slightly, all while the only other human in the building watched me from across the table.

“I don't get you.” Braided hair shifted as she shook her head. “You won't lift a finger to save the people killing themselves out there, but he talks about slaves and you start coming apart. It doesn't track, especially with.. you know, you're Batarian fixation.”

I let out a slow exhale. “The people out there made the choice to end up on the streets shooting at each other. If they want to throw their lives away for whatever fucking reason they're doing it, that's on them. Slaves don't even have that luxury. Shit. With the neural implants and crap you can shove into them they can be paralyzed on a fucking whim so suicide isn't even easy.”

“You're not exactly filling me with confidence for tomorrow.”

One of my hands waved irritably. “I'm not fucking suicidal. As much as I hate that shit, what could I do about it? Kill a bunch of slavers just so that the slaves end up being grabbed by someone else? And I'd probably end up dead in the process. Martyrdom doesn't really appeal to me either.”

Which was.. probably all that would really happen if I tried. Garrus might have made the station quake with his two year rein as Archangel, but I wasn't him. Nor were any of the others who apparently made almost yearly attempts to punish the slavers, gangs, and drug runners on the station. We'd actually had to walk past a Turian who'd been killed and strung up against a building on our way from one of the Eclipse's hangers. The sign pinned to his fringe had indicated that he'd tried to break up a slaving racket, and that this was what would happen to anyone else who tried.

Ticker had shrugged at Illyan's quiet question, before elaborating that it happened all the time. Most would-be cops or vigilantes had life spans measured in days. Which made what Garrus had done, or would do I guess, all the more impressive. He would admit that the Talons were making better progress than most after their reformation, though that was likely a case of both strength in numbers and the fact that they really weren't.. well, cleaning things up all that much.

Oh the streets were a lot cleaner, and the odds of being randomly murdered were way down thanks to intensive patrols. But drug dealers still had open shops and pirates brazenly strutted up and down the street with prostitutes under each arm as they flaunted their latest haul. It sure as hell wasn't the Citadel, or even Illium, but it according to Ticker it was a hell of a lot better than what went down in Blood Pack territory. The people there could consider themselves lucky just to wake up every day and find all of their limbs still attached.

Elissa's eyes were still narrowed slightly, but she grunted as she nodded. “Good. Was half worried you'd go vigilante or something. Not that I really care what you do once you get my armor done, but would be nice to have a competent supplier for custom work.”

“And here I thought you were genuinely concerned for me.”

“I am, and will be for the next three local days. After that I've got other things to do.”

I couldn't help but chuckle. “Points for honesty. But seriously, are we done with the questions now? I thought we got this crap out of the way on the way here.”

“You blame me for wanting to be sure that you aren't about to get me and my subordinates killed?”

“Of course not, but seriously. Not my first time working with your group. Or you for that matter.”

“There's a difference between fighting against someone we both hate on a battlefield and co-existing on Omega.”

“Point.” Before I could make another attempt to change the topic, our companions thankfully came to my rescue. Heavy boots clattered on the stairs as Rane and another Salarian made their way up them. Both had already removed their helmets, revealing their tired expressions. “They done?”

Jakari, who unlike Ticker had greenish skin with patches of yellow on his neck, gave a nod. “They lost their appetite for a fight after one of the Krogan headbutted a Turian and broke his neck. Crowd is still dispersing, Ticker and your big Asari are keeping an eye on them.”

“Good.” His Captain slowly pushed back from the table, rising as her chair slid on the plain floor. “That gives us a chance to go and get some food that isn't rations. Kean? Dammit, MacKeanan?”

I waved her off. “I'd rather get some sleep first. Can handle that on our end before the mission tomorrow.”

She grunted, grabbing her helmet from the tiny kitchen counter before glancing between me and where Rane had elected to lean against the wall. “West rooms still ours?”

All of the lowborn's eyes narrowed slightly at the unspoken question of whether or not I really wanted to share my room with a Batarian. Outwardly the two women remained polite with one another, which was understandable given what they'd gone through on Korlus. But there was definitely some underlying tension between them. I didn't think it was from their species so much as their personalities.. in particular Rane's passive-aggressive way of dancing around impolite truths.

Personally I found it entertaining, verging on cute. My fellow human had apparently begun to find it grating after Rane had indirectly criticized how her people had stored our equipment on the ship. Not that I was really in place that I could judge either of them. I could work with Jakari, but this hadn't been the first time that Elissa had had to get Ticker away from me before I punched his damned mouth.

“Yes.”

“All right then. We'll be back.”

The two mecs vanished down the stairs, the sounds of their movement echoing as they continued down the next set. Rane took the opportunity to take the now open chair, though she remained silent until my omni-tool confirmed that the front door had been opened and then locked shut behind them.

“I don't like her.” Her normally low voice was almost a continuous growl. “Was she still interrogating you?”

“She tried to be more conversational about it this time, but more or less.” One of my shoulders twitched as I switched to her language. “She's paranoid that I'm going to do something stupid tomorrow.”

Rane let out a whistling sigh through her teeth while her lips pulled back. “Pillars. Does she think you're suicidal?”

“Rane. Calm down.” Four dark eyes stared at me as I tried not to smile. “You don't have to defend me from the evil mercenary Captain.”

“I'm.. I wasn't..” A rattling sound made her throat vibrate. “Pillars. Must you always tease me? I mean, 'evil mercenary Captain'?”

“That was a bit much.” I admitted. “Made it too obvious. Maybe the 'questioning' or 'inquisitive' would have been better.”

My Batarian girlfriend groaned before lowering her head, resting it on her forearms as she slumped. “With respect, Reyja'krem. Not while I'm so tired. Please.”

Smiling a little, I reached across the table to gently touch her forehead with my armored fingers. “As you desire. Wouldn't a bed be more comfortable than this table though?”

There was a quiet groan. “Yes.”

And yet she didn't move. Not that I was eager to get up from my chair either. According to the basic schedule that we'd worked out, the pair of us should have been in bed for a few hours by now instead of waiting out a riot. Illyan had enough stims to keep her going until we'd gotten just enough to let us get our next mission done, after which it would be her turn to crash hard.

Nor could I even head strait to bed. There was still more crap do be done. “Go on, get out of your armor and pass out. Think you can sleep through my call? Have to get in touch with Trisren, told her I would do so after the riot ended.”

“It will not be an issue.” She assured me, leaning her head up into my touch for a moment before groaning and pushing herself up. It took her until she'd started to shuffle in the direction of the bedroom before her brain actually caught up with the situation. “Wait.. I thought.. we're in the same..?”

“If it is all right with you?” I had to resist the urge to fidget. Faux-confidence in front of mercenaries was one thing. Trying to work through my emotions, plus maneuvering through the cultural minefields affecting the both of us, was something else entirely. Especially when you added things like sleeping in the same bed. “I mean, I don't want to assume that-”

“Kie.” Rane's skin darkened slightly. “Why would you assume that I would object?”

My head bowed slightly as I tilted it to the left in a small show of embarrassment. “You know how I feel about what you think my position is.”

There was a polite sound of disagreement before she spoke. “With respect, Reyja'krem, it is not a position that I alone think you hold. Regardless of what you might think of it, that is who you are now. I have sufficient worries about us remaining low key as it is.”

Straightening my neck out, I glanced up to see her frowning. “I thought you were on board with this?”

“I was. I mean, I am.” There was another Batarian hiss of frustration through her teeth. “I.. I didn't think of it or really realize it until we were walking from the hanger to here. You.. don't hold yourself like Captain Elissa. Or like other humans that I saw. Your head moves and shifts, displaying your superiority to the trash on the street as a highborn would while acknowledging those worth noticing.”

I blinked slowly, and she waved a hand at me. “Right there Kie. You're tucking your chin to down and to the left and blinking slowly. Politely showing that you are both listening and respect my opinions.”

“I.. shit.” Bringing my right hand up, I rubbed my face. “All that crap that Nynsi put me through still sticking I guess.”

She gave me a small smile, “I don't think that living entirely with my people for nearly two years helped terribly much either.”

It probably hadn't. And explained why I didn't even notice half the stuff that I was apparently doing. “Shit. Would exiles notice?”

“I.. don't know.” There was a quiet exhale as she took a few moments to think it over. “The direct exiles will notice that you hold yourself like a highborn. Those descendent from them will of course recognize that you consider yourself superior but some of the.. nuance will likely escape them.”

I sighed. “Dammit. We can explain away the dialect but.. _chakathari._ I didn't even think of this. Neither did Aethyta apparently.”

Though I really could blame her.. at her core, she was a soldier forced to play spy, not a cultural savant. And either way she'd never claimed any particular affinity to Batarians or Humanity, it was entirely possible that she hadn't noticed.

“You.. could simply refuse to talk about it while we're in the store, if anyone asks.” From her expression she knew that wasn't the best plan, but I wasn't exactly coming up with anything better at the moment. “And wear your full armor at all times while outside. If we can slip you out of here..”

“I think there is under-city access behind the sales counter downstairs, though Aethyta's people sealed it before we moved in. Can re-rig that ourselves.” I nodded slowly as I worked through it. “And I was planning on wearing my armor at all times outside anyways and making you two do the same. Might make things a little awkward..”

“I'd prefer things to be awkward for us rather than for the Hegemony to quickly realize who you are.”

“Agreed.” I paused as another thought struck me. “Wait, you said I do things unconsciously.. please tell me I wasn't expressing a demand or anything when I was..”

“You weren't.” Rane assured me before hesitantly taking a step in my direction, “Though if I may..?”

I gave her a slight nod of permission, watching as she moved the rest of the way around the table. It took a moment for her to remove her armored gloves, tossing them onto the table before slowly reaching up to touch my face. Warm fingers lingered for a long moment before she gently started to re-arrange my posture.

“Head to the right a few degrees, your chin up.. bit more, there. A little smirk is all right. Right foot a little bit forwards.. arms high across your chest, both hands open and.. let your fingers seem.. a little slack.” Her voice slowed, becoming lower as I recognized bits and pieces of the posture. “There.”

“Rane..” My words failed me as the exiled lowborn tilted her own head to the left, tucking it demurely against her shoulder to expose the dominant right side of her neck to me. As she did that, her entire body seemed to shift as she put most of her weight on her right leg while arching her back a bit to tighten her stomach. If I'd been a Batarian it would have drawn lower eyes downwards to trace her body while the upper set stayed on her face and neck. As I only had the one pair, and given that she was still in armor, I left them up.

Eventually I found my voice again, low and rough. “I thought you were exhausted.”

“I thought the Reyja'krem was the same.” There was the tiniest of pauses before she offered me a way to politely decline.. just like I had the few other times we'd come close to doing anything. “If he is, I will understand. But if he is not..”

My lungs exhaled a tight breath as I tried to keep my brain rather than my hormones in control. There was a host of reasons why I hadn't already accepted her unspoken offers. Most of them were still perfectly valid. It should have been, at the very least, a mental debate between giving in or tactfully finding a way to say no.

The fight.. didn't last as long as I would have preferred it to.

A few moments later had me stepping closer to her, listening as her breathing quickened while I lowered my head to trace my mouth along the exposed skin of her neck. Arms slid around my waist as mine found her back, holding her as kisses turned into soft bites and rapid breathing turned into quiet gasps. She didn't speak, instead simply gripping at my armor as she tried to back towards the hall leading to the bedrooms.

Pulling back just enough to make our movements more coordinated and thus faster, we managed to find the room originally designated as mine and irritably enter the access code. Once we'd gotten inside, I held her in place while making sure that the door was locked again behind us. That out of the way, I tried to start pulling at her armor only to be surprised when her hands snapped up to grab mine.

“Rane?”

“Reyja'krem... Kie.” Pulling, she guided me deeper into the small room, before gently directing me to sit on the hard bed. A quick flick of her omni-tool set the lighting low enough to let us see without being fully on. “Please, let me.”

“What..” Again I found myself unable to properly find my words as copper colored fingers pulled back to begin working her dark breastplate free. “Rane.. you don't..”

Her head dipped again, as she paused her movements. “But I wish to. Please Cieran.”

Athame's ass. I didn't want her to be.. I shouldn't..

My chin moved in the slightest of nods.

A quietly pleased sound was the only further noise beyond that of her slowly removing her armor, the ceramic and metal plating striking the floor to leave her only in her clinging underarmor. It didn't leave much to the imagination, and she took her time to make sure that I had plenty of opportunity to look. Leaving that in place, she slowly stepped forwards and began to remove my own plating. Fingers pulled at the armor, gently but firmly moving my hands out of the way when I tried to assist her.

It wasn't anything like the more.. rough and tumble affairs that Nynsi and I had shared. But it was more than enjoyable all the same.. a trend which continued when my armor finally joined hers on the floor. With that out of the way, she pulled back again. Reaching down she pulled her shirt up just enough to expose her stomach before once more shifting into the pose that had started all of this.

This time my eyes _did_ wander downwards, tracing the outlines of her small breasts beneath her shirt before reaching her flexing abs.. and from the small smile on her face when they finally made their way back up, she didn't mind in the slightest.

After that.. well, I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't end up calling Trisren. I managed a short message an hour or so later from my omni-tool, which probably annoyed her. But given that Rane's nude frame was draped over mine beneath our thin sheets, her breathing steady in sleep.. I didn't really care if Tris was annoyed.

I was perfectly content.

* * *

  
**Next up is Chapter 2: The Knives**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. a lot of setting the scene in this one. Bit about their new home, about Omega itself, the Eclipse mercs with them.. oh, and Cieran finally gives into Rane and upgrades their relationship a bit. Also some more information on Cieran himself, partially as a refresher as to how his personality has developed, partially to go over some of what he does without really realizing it.
> 
> The next chapter will have Cieran and Rane heading to the slave markets to see if they can't find a fourth member for their team who wouldn't mind sticking around after being freed.
> 
> The new post-chapter section will begin with Chapter 3, as thing settle down a little.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	7. Act 1: The Knives

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Knives**

"You sure you don't need me with you boss?" Illyan asked as she gave my back-plate a hard tug, making sure that everything was secure. "Wouldn't take more than a few minutes to get the rest of my gear."

"And what, disguise yourself as a giant Batarian?" I snorted inside my helmet. "How much of their language do you even know?"

"Rane taught me a few curses. Really don't get why they're all about desert animals though."

"Then perhaps you should have spent more time researching my people," Said Batarian's voice was prim through her helmet speakers, her assault rifle turning in her hands as she inspected the weapon. "And less time trying to get me into bed."

The Asari let out an almost lustful groan at the last word. "Goddess. Don't mention beds or sleep until you get back. Stims are barely keeping me up right now. And that damned Salarian won't shut up."

"Dorvahn should be over in a bit. He can hold the place down until we get back."

As I'd more or less expected I'd woken up to both sore muscles and several irritated messages from my nominal commander. After finding a shirt with a high enough collar to hide the left side of my neck, I'd finally called her. She hadn't been thrilled that I hadn't bothered to properly do so the night prior, but had accepted my protests of exhaustion so long as I understood that she'd beat me senseless if I did it again.

That point of order resolved, she'd had me go over my plan for the day. Giving it her approval, the only change she'd made was to send her boyfriend over after he'd awoken to let Illyan get some rest. Illyan had originally protested when I'd told her, claiming that she was fine, but had eventually admitted that it was probably a good idea.

"How long he staying?"

"Until you wake up." I started to reach for my SMG to check it before I realized my mistake and hastily amended myself. "Until you've slept for nine hours. Ten if he doesn't have anything better to do."

The last yank she gave to one of my shoulder pauldrons was a little harder than necessary. "Jerk. Everything is sealed boss, ready to switch to your air."

"One sec." I turned my gun over, rechecking that the safety was on and that the mods were in place. I'd thought long and hard about picking up a heavier weapon, but had ended up just getting another Asari-built sub-machine gun. A newer model than my last one, a used Watcher Twenty-Nine that offered either automatic fire or three round bursts.

Just like the gun that had ended up destroyed on Korlus, incinerate rounds had been quickly loaded in to give it a bit stronger punch. A pricier heat sink and stabilizers had been the next purchases, but I hadn't gone beyond that yet. I was thinking about a new grip, maybe extending the barrel but had honestly been more focused on getting our armor done.

Letting the gun collapse, I reattached it to my belt before offering my left arm to Illyan so that she could run a final check with my own omni-tool. While she handled that, I glanced over to where Rane was patiently waiting.

"Remember the plan?"

Even through the speakers her voice was dry. "We did discuss it a mere ten minutes ago. And the hour before that when Elissa and Jakari headed out to take their positions."

I sighed, but it was good to see that last night hadn't seemed to change things. So far, anyway. Air began to breeze along my neck as the fans in the back of my helmet kicked to life, my HUD updating as the suit sealed itself.

"That good boss?"

"Everything reads good, thanks Illyan. And try not to shoot Ticker. He's an ass but I don't think Sederis would appreciate it."

She grunted as she stepped away. "No promises Kie."

"You want to pay her the blood money then?"

Her blue eyes rolled back. "Fine. The damned Salarian will survive. Oh. Whoever you bring back, at least make sure they're hot. I want to have something pretty to look at."

I grunted. "We're going for the Turian, she seems more stable."

"Athame's ass.. Turian women are all hard plates and sharp edges.. do have some soft skin beneath though. Hey, that also describes Trena pretty well now that I think about it."

"I'll be sure to tell scales that you miss her." The Asari gave me a rude gesture before handing me my cane. That out of the way she headed over towards the door, flicking the control panel to open it for us. Rane and I moved past her, exiting onto the street before I gave her one last look over my shoulder. "Seal it up until Dorvahn arrives."

"I know boss. Good luck out there, try not to end up face down in the surf."

Snorting, I turned to glance around as the heavy metal clanked into place behind us.

There really wasn't much to look at on the street, not at this time of day anyway. While Omega didn't really have a 'night', according to Ticker most of the districts settled into rhythms where most shops closed to give the proprietors a chance to rest. For us, that meant the Third shift of the day.

As we were in the middle of said shift, the streets were noticeably sparse. A few Turians quickly heading the other direction, and a few scavengers poking through what they could find in the narrow spaces between the buildings were all that we saw as we started walking.

Rane stayed behind me and to my left, her equally long legs not having any issues matching my stride. "Quiet out."

"Doesn't seem natural, does it?"

"It does not.. I feel like I should have my gun out and we're twenty meters from the store."

I grunted quietly. "This isn't Illium. If it helps go for it."

She didn't reply verbally, but when I glanced back a few moments later her rifle was casually being held in both hands. Personally I would have done the same.. but thanks to her reminder yesterday I was more conscious than ever of the role I was supposed to be playing. And while she as my 'bodyguard' was more than justified in being armed, I needed to project bold, arrogant confidence.

Which meant ignoring the feeling that I was being watched and trusting that Rane could cover me.

The taxis in the area had been a Blue Sun racket, and the Talons were apparently still fighting with the White Tigers over who would run them now. In the end, what that meant for us was that the damned things were all shut down and locked away in some complex somewhere and we were stuck walking.

After reaching the end of the street as it hung out from the 'cliff' that was the asteroid proper, we turned right and followed a side path into the rock. Shifting from being in open 'air' of the cavern-like core of Omega to the metal walls and streets was a little disconcerting, though I figured I'd get used to it eventually. And it definitely made me feel like we were in an actual space station instead of merely underground or something.

Things remained quiet as we went down some stairs, across another empty street, and then up a different broad stairwell. We had to pause as veritable pack of varren went sprinting across a street with a group of irate Batarians in ragged clothing shouting obscenities as they chased after them. I had enough time to blink in confusion before a Krogan rounded the corner, waving his shotgun in the air as he pounded after them. He seemed equally furious that his 'pets' were in apparently danger and was describing, in rather disturbing detail, just how he was going to cook anyone who harmed them.

"Interesting place." I muttered as they finished passing, easing my finger off of my cane's trigger.

"Indeed." Rane murmured dryly across our comms, gunfire still echoing in the distance.

As we drew closer to the border with the Tuhi district, we ran into more people as we entered 'daylight'. Illium had been jarring in comparison to Earth, but Omega was jarring in comparison to Illium.

For a start, everyone was armed. _Everyone._ We walked past a pair of Turians who were half the size I'd expect them to eventually be but still carrying full blown assault rifles in their talons. Well.. shitty, half rusted rifles, but still rifles. Most of the other weapons in sight weren't in much better shape, but given that very few people seemed to actually be wearing armor I didn't doubt that they were lethal enough.

Another thing was the sheer diversity, even just in this tiny corner of the station. Illium, excepting the enclave of Khar'shan Minor and a few pockets in downtown Nos Astra, was very much an Asari planet. Sure, Asari were more diverse in real life than in the games, but even compared to humans they still weren't all that diverse. Freaks like Illyan aside, most Asari didn't deviate much in terms of height and build. It was really the clothing where they tried to show off their individuality. Regardless, eventually you just got used them being predominate almost everywhere you went.

But in the ten minutes between when we'd left and now, I'd seen at least one of damned near every known species.

Most reacted to our passing about as you'd expect. The humans were almost universally long haired and in bad needs of showers. They sneered and even spit in our direction, but seemed nervous about the quality of our gear and gave us a wide berth. In comparison, the Batarians gave us deferential tilts of their heads and few tried to respectfully approach before Rane wordlessly warned them back with gestures.

A few Asari who looked like they were high as kites on Dust tried to stagger in our direction before a Drell distracted them with more packets of the stuff as he warily tracked us. The one Hanar flashed wildly on a street corner as he hawked crap guns, while an Elcor described its increasing irritation about his neighbors to a Krogan at an open-air bar. And damned Vorcha were everywhere, hissing and snarling at one another as they slunk from alley to alley, apparently trying to avoid damn near everyone else.

We also witnessed five brawls, saw three dead bodies being dragged into shadowy side-streets, and even glimpsed a Turian enjoying the 'services' of a kneeling Asari as he leaned against a wall.

Jack Sparrow would have felt right at fucking home.

Me? The only reason I hadn't drawn my gun was because my finger was already on my cane's trigger, half ready to blast an incinerate mine at anyone who looked at us twice.

"I'm starting to regret coming here." I admitted as we headed down a broad ramp, signs overhead informing us that we were shifting both districts and decks.

"Already?"

"Yep."

"Perhaps it will grow on you. Like Trena did."

I glanced to my right, careful to keep my head level as I regarded a stoned Salarian in the process of having everything on his person being liberated by an Asari maiden. She was holding him in place with biotics, which was making him giggle like an idiot for some reason. "Somehow I doubt it."

She made a polite noise before falling quiet as we neared the ramp's bottom.. and the slave markets.

My cane hit the metal floor sharply as I took a slow breath, pausing just outside of the sign proclaiming us to now be on Tuhi's C-Deck. Around the glowing neon were dozens of smaller markers, all proclaiming the advantages of buying 'products' from specific sellers.

Rane took a few extra steps, moving closer even though she remained behind me. "Are you all right Kie?"

"No." I let out a short breath through my nose before giving her a tiny nod. "Come on. The faster we get this over with, the faster we can leave. Click the coms if I'm too noticeable."

"Understood."

I don't want to describe the markets, I really don't. Most days I try to forget what I saw down there entirely.

All that shit that we'd walked past to get here I could put up with. I didn't _like_ it, but I could accept that it happened and that there wasn't shit that I could do about it. But this was.. something worse than that. This made me want to murder the assholes trying to wave us over, waving their arms and hands towards people forced to stand naked on display for gawking auctioneers to bid upon. No.. not murder. Murder implied that I might kill them quickly.

I'd much rather seize every control stick and collar frequency in use and turn all that shit off, and let the 'property' take their own revenge.

Of course.. after that they'd be stuck on Omega with no food, no weapons, and in most cases not even clothing. They'd be dead, re-enslaved, or worse within minutes. Hours at the outside. Oh, and Rane and I would definitely be in the 'or worse' category. Which was really the only thing stopping me from blowing a Batarian's head off when he waved a control stick to send a nude Drell woman screaming to the ground as she clutched at her neck.

He, and many prospective buyers, cackled at her pain.

A quiet click across my comms made me slacken the grip on my cane a bit, forcing my gaze to remain locked dead ahead as I fought the urge to deactivate my external mics so that I couldn't hear have the crap happening around us.

Thankfully our target had his own 'store', nestled away in a secluded corner. It had only the smallest of signs proclaiming it to be Shith's Exotics. A pair of bulked up mechs stood guard outside the locked door, both hefting up shotguns as we approached. They looked like beefy LOKI models, and were in noticeably better shape than I'd seen almost anything else on station in.

"Halt." They buzzed in unison, the lowborn Batarian neat and precise from their speakers. "Identify yourselves."

Rane spoke from behind me, voice as bland as she could make it. "Prospective buyers, our identity to remain anonymous. Arriving for prearranged meeting as per the message sent during shift one this day."

"Analyzing." A long pause followed before their guns smoothly slid back down. "Two targets, both in Batarian armor. Corresponds to received mail. You may enter."

Behind them the door flickered as it unlocked, before sliding open for us. Taking that along with the verbal invitation, we went ahead and entered. The interior was.. different. Most of the slaves outside had been kept in cages, small or large. Either way they'd almost universally been open to show off the people trapped within.

The 'store' was absolutely tiny. There was a small circular area near the door, where we now stood. Across from us was a simple chair, upon which a plain looking Turian sat. His plating was a muddy brown, with simple red streaks across his chin and mandibles. He wasn't bothering to wear armor either, instead lounging in something that looked like a voluminous green robe.

Along the wall to either side were doorways, all of which were shut at the moment. It definitely made me nervous, and I found myself glancing at the floor to see if there was an obvious trap door or something equally inane.

"Ah, my mysterious new friends." Our apparent host rose a taloned hand in greeting, though he didn't move to get up. "Welcome to my humble shop. I am Shith. I will not be so rude as to ask your names."

"Your discretion is appreciated." Rane spoke for us, while I merely crossed my arms and assumed a politely patient posture. "You come highly reviewed."

His mandibles quivered as he seemed to preen. "Unlike the rabble outside, I prefer to take a more personal touch in my work. Though it raises my costs, my customers find the results to be most satisfactory."

Shifting, he pushed off from his armrests to stand in a smooth motion. "But we are all business people, so let us not waste one another's time with polite flattery. You wished to see T184F, and Q094F, yes?"

"With intent to purchase one, or the other."

Though it was Rane who was speaking, the Turian kept his eyes on me as he gave a slight bow, his head shifting easily into the Batarian posture for chagrined apology. "Regrettably, the Turian female was purchased earlier today. Normally I would not do such a thing, but the seller agreed to pay an additional fee for the inconvenience to other customers. I have kept a third of said money, but am applying the remainder as a discount towards your purchase of Q094F if you are interested in her."

I let out a hissing sigh that wasn't that far off from what a Batarian could actually do. "Bring her out."

"We wish to ensure that she is indeed from the Terminus." Rane supplied from there. "As well as a general inspection."

He gave another bow. "But of course, I would have been disappointed if you did not."

One of his hands vanished into the flowing cloth that he was wearing, and a few moments later one of the doors clicked and slid open. Beyond it was the slight sheen of glass, indentations making it clear that this was a secondary door intended to keep the room's occupant inside.

Said occupant was standing in the center of her small space, glaring quite furiously in our direction. I could tell that she was glaring because while he had allowed her to keep her suit on from the neck down, her head remained exposed.

Her face wasn't quite like the half-assed one I vaguely remembered in game, though it did seem to follow the Human, Asari, and Drell pattern. But like the rest of her body, it seemed to be a bit narrower and thinner than most of the other species, highlighting her sharp cheekbones and jawline.

The skin itself was light gray but marred by purple dots and stripes across her cheeks and forehead. Her lips were a bit darker in coloration, and I caught glimpses of ivory teeth when she let out a long exhale. Like Asari she didn't seem to have external ears, but like humans she had hair. Hers was pure white and cut short, a few strands dangling down in front of her almost anime-esque eyes. Besides being far larger than a human's, the gleaming silver iris seemed to dominate the orbs completely.

She was.. odd to look at. Close to human but also skirting the edge of the uncanny valley. I think it was the hair.. without it and I could tell she was alien. With it she looked like some kind of unfinished hybrid between an Asari and a human. Or maybe it was the eyes that were a good two or three times larger than mine. Probably both.

"Now, while you are paying.. I must advise you to be cautious with this one." Shith waved a hand towards the glass cage. "I purchased her from a gang after they tired of dealing with her.. in particular they believed that she overcame the pain from her neural implants to slit the throats of several members of their group."

Rane made a sound of polite interest. "Is the air in that room clean?"

"Far cleaner than that outside, but not to clean-room levels. A method of proving her origin, if you wish to review the relevant data."

"If you could send it to my omni-tool, along with any other data you have."

"But of course." I continued to observe the Quarian, who crossed her arms as her lips pulled back to sneer at my attention. Her teeth looked typical enough, though I thought she might have had an extra set of sharp canines. "If you would like me to continue?"

My head shifted in a polite nod.

"She also apparently had quite the mouth on her. Eventually one of their number grew tired of her sarcasm and attempted to slit her throat." Fingers tightened on my cane, thankfully held out of the Turian's sight. "Their leader brought her to a doctor who patched her up, but did not bother to repair her damaged vocal cords. She is quite mute, an obstacle to be overcome for sure."

A muscle in my cheek twitched.

Behind me, the slaver continued to speak. "Like most of her kind she is highly technically proficient, which I assume is your desire for her. Rumors of her killing gangsters in their sleep aside, he claimed that she was capable of combat though declined to share the specifics with me. I cannot recommend using her in such a manner however, as she would be more likely to turn on you rather than your enemies even with pain sent through her neural implants."

I gave a quiet grunt before speaking, trying to keep my voice low. "You would recommend keeping her supervised at all times then?"

"I would indeed good master." He seemed to hesitate, and I caught the glimpse of his reflection glancing at Rane before he admitted more. "Even by the standards of this station, I would.. not describe her as stable. The gang who owned her did not treat her well, which is never conductive to a slave accepting their life. I am willing to provide a further discount based upon that."

Great. If the Omega based slaver didn't think she was sane, that didn't exactly bode well.

"Does she have a mask or antibiotic supply?" My companion spoke up, her omni-tool still clicking as she scrolled through information.

"She does posses the former, it will be slid into the room upon purchase."

I dipped my helmet again. "Any other relevant information?"

"I would not recommend that she be used for more carnal pursuits. I believe the gang in question did so. That, in addition to her damage to her throat, is much of what has affected her." This time I was surprised that the grip on my cane wasn't being deformed from how tight my fingers had gotten. Forget Shith. Slaving asshole or not, definitely a new set of people who needed to die in mind. "Beyond that, your assistant has all of your information, good master."

After that he and I fell silent, waiting while Rane reviewed the data. It took her a good ten minutes, the entire time of which the Quarian continued to burn holes in my armor with her glare.

"It all checks out. I believe she would be acceptable sir."

"Price?"

"After your discounts, two hundred thousand. I do not haggle, you may take my price or you may leave. If you do not wish her, I will consent to alert you if I receive another technically capable slave and apply your discount to them as well. It is only good business, after all."

"Sir?" My right hand rose in permission. "We have an agreement, we will take the Quarian."

The pair of them worked out the specifics, the credits transferring from a dummy account that Aethyta's people had setup for us. She'd definitely bitch about the price, especially if the Quarian didn't end up joining us.. but too bad for her. Not that I thought that Aethyta would really care, so much as the drifting idiots who provided her budget would.

With the payment received, the Turian flicked a few more hidden controls. A small panel inside the room opened to provide her with a helmet and a mask. She quickly took both, hiding her face away behind the tinted glass. After that she was in considerably less of a hurry, only exiting the opened room after Shith gave her a shock.

After which he had her stay still while he handed a control rod to Rane, explaining how it worked. Apparently even Terminus Quarians had extensive neural implants and cybernetics, and unfortunately those kinds of things could be co-opted by determined slavers. We had options to send electrical shocks to stun and surprise her, or to generate burning heat to deliver real pain.

Through it all her silver eyes remained narrowed, and at one point one of her feet actually started to fidget as though she was impatient to get this over with.

"I would recommend handcuffing her until you reach your destination, lest she try to run." The Turian had once again seated himself, and sounded far more jovial now that the sale was completed. "But the choice is ultimately yours."

"We will be fine." Rane supplied, handing me the control rod before pulling her rifle off of her back once more. "Thank you for your services."

"Thank your for your purchase."

The three of us, with my companion directing our new 'slave' with gestures from her gun, exited the tiny store. We stayed silent as we guided her back out of the markets, enduring far more looks on the way out than on the way in. Though these were less glances of respect and closer to poachers eying prey that they wanted for themselves.

Our Quarian apparently realized that as well, because she didn't give us any issues. Even though she was five or six inches shorter than either of us she kept up easily enough.

Five minutes later found us on the ramp heading out of the district, the Salarian and his Asari mugger both absent now. We made it most of the way up the ramp before I had to stop, swerving into a refuse filled tunnel-slash-alley.

Once Rane was obscuring the street behind us.. I slammed a fist into the wall, and may or may not have shouted something obscene.

"Athame's fucking.. by the damned..." I seethed, letting my back hit a wall as I tried to work out all the crap that I'd been holding in. "Fucking.. shit!"

"Kie.. it isn't safe here." Glancing over, I found the Quarian looking at me while Rane's helmet swiveled between her and the road. "Not so close to the markets."

"Right... right." It still took me a few breaths before I could speak in a somewhat civil tone. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name and it's rude to call you Quarian. I have a job offer for you. Once we get back to our shop we'll disable this control shit."

Eyes widened momentarily before narrowing sharply.

I had to guess at what that meant, "You're smart to be paranoid, suspicious, whatever. Let us get back to our place and we'll get you an omni-tool so we can communicate."

She seemed to roll her eyes before gesturing at her neck with a three fingered hand.

"Right, we could zap you. Really don't want to."

"Kie.. we should be moving."

Not wasting more words, I gestured for the two of them to go on. "Comm the Captain, ask her to watch our backs."

"Yes sir."

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful, with both Rane and I often glancing over our shoulders to make sure that no one was following us. No one seemed to, and the Eclipse Captain didn't report anyone as they left wherever they'd been set up to shadow us. All the same, we still tried to take a few more side streets and tunnels to lose anyone who tried.

Two or so hours after we'd left found us returning, the sign proclaiming our place to be the Ironhold Armory still very much deactivated. On the second floor patio directly above it, a Turian in navy armor with white highlights gave us a cheerful wave.

"MacKeenan. Back in one piece I see."

"Altheus. Anything to report?"

"Nothing of consequence. How was your expedition? Successful I see."

"Remains to be seen." I waved a hand, "We'll talk inside."

"I will remain on watch, you may handle your own affairs." Dorvahan settled back out of site, the barrel of a rifle visibly coming to rest on the rail. "If you would come speak with me after, I would appreciate it."

"Right."

A flick of my omni-tool opened the front door. Once it was open, I waved the two women inside, following only once they were in. Rane quickly holstered her gun, gently guiding the Quarian to the stairs in back. I trailed behind them, the three of us heading all the way up to the third floor to find Ticker seated at our table and sipping from a steaming cup.

"Ah. Went with the Quarian? Rather surprised. Expected the Turian female. Nearly equal in skill, description indicated higher degree of sanity."

"Ticker.." I seriously didn't have the patience to deal with him right now."Go watch for your Captain with Altheus."

The Salarian let out an annoyed sniff, but duly vanished with his cup.

"I'll get her an omni-tool from our stash." Rane shook her helmet, following him down the stairs and leaving me alone with the Quarian.. who seemed to be increasingly confused as to what was happening to her.

"Take a seat. Or don't, your choice." Reaching up, my helmet popped its seals with a hiss as I yanked the damn thing off. Still not sure how I resisted the urge to throw the fucking thing in anger, but I managed to set the stupid thing on the table before collapsing into a chair.

After a long moment the Quarian took the one that Ticker had vacated, her eyes locked on me as her head cocked to one side.

"Surprised that I'm human?"

There was a slight nod.

I blew out a long breath before closing my eyes. "Fucking hate slavers. You aren't property, make that clear right now. We'll disable the crap they have running inside of you. If you want to stay, I can offer a hundred thousand in pay for twelve months of work."

It took me a minute to remember that she couldn't verbally answer me. Well.. what the fuck. No reason not to be honest with her. Besides, it wasn't as if it wouldn't be stupidly obvious if she did stay around. "We're Republic Intelligence agents, here to investigate the murders of hotel staff on Illium with another group. Brutal shit, even by Omega's apparent lack of standards. I need a fourth member for our team to help keep up appearances in this shop. In addition to the pay you can help yourself to equipment, and we'll definitely have to re-rig your suit for combat."

A soft tap on the table made me open an eye, her head cocked to one side again.

"Interested?"

Gleaming eyes narrowed before her right hand rose, wobbling back and forth in what was apparently the universal gesture for 'maybe'.

"Pay? Equipment?"

Her head shook before the same hand rose to tap her throat, following it with a petite fist hitting the table hard enough to jolt it.

"The guys who did that to you?"

A tight nod.

My lips thinned. "Did they rape you?"

Both of her hands tightened further.

Mine followed suit a moment later as I breathed as shallowly as I could. "Our intelligence isn't as good as it can be right now, but so long as they aren't Aria or Sederis's people.. I don't see why they need to keep breathing."

Footsteps echoed as Rane came back up, holding an omni-tool in an armored hand. The Quarian quickly accepted it, wrapping it around a wrist before allowing the lowborn to initialize the new device and linking her into a text conversation with me.

_New User: My own room. Locked to me, no one else comes in without permission. If any of you try, I will leave. And possibly kill you._

"Done." And ours would be sealed as well in case she tried anything at night. "Need air scrubbers as well?"

_It would be useful, yes. Dextro specific medications for allergic reactions as well. And food, of course._ Her fingers seemed to hesitate for a moment. _If you are aware of a.. competent doctor who could look at my throat, I would be willing to pay for some of my suit upgrades._

"Unnecessary." I waved a hand. "There are plenty on Illium, but we might not be able to get you there until after our mission."

_I have lived with it for nearly a year now, a few more months will not make that large of a difference._ Gleaming eyes blinked slowly before she resumed. _You are doing little to make me feel that this.. what is your human phrase, too good to be true._

"Because you do not know him." Rane supplied, her omni-tool scanning the slave rod. "Would we disable this thing if we were not being honest?"

_… A fair point. Will you give me weapons?_

I glanced at Rane. "No offense but you don't exactly make me feel good about giving you a gun right now.. but then again, with all the weapons downstairs we couldn't exactly stop you from grabbing one sooner or later."

_There are people far more worthy of death than either of you. That Turian for example. And those that made me into.. this. And the doctor who helped them._ Her free hand curled into a shaking fist yet again, my mind injecting seething anger into the simple text on her behalf. _Give me control of my own body again and I'll stay until you give me information on them. Help me kill them and I'll stay until your mission is over. Do those things and I'll.. trust you. Somewhat. Deal?  
_

It wasn't even a question really. "Deal. Until then, you'll accept that we won't totally trust you?"

_Not unreasonable. Your name is Kie?_

"For now, call me Kie. This is Rane. Illyan will be your partner long-term, she's unconscious right now." I waved a hand towards the rooms. "For now you'll have to share a room with her on alternating sleep schedules. Once our extra help clears out, shouldn't be more than a few local days, we'll get you set up in your own. Acceptable?"

_Yes. Are they all human as well?_

"I am actually Batarian, lowborn exile." Rane supplied, growling at whatever her omni-tool was telling her. "Illyan is the largest Asari you will likely ever see. Pillars crush this thing and hurl it into the desert, it's going to be a while before I can disable everything. And then you'll have to help me safely reset some of your implants."

_Take your time. I'd rather be free than have you fry my brain._

I couldn't help but snort. "And your name?"

_Voya. Voya'Chi vas Xentha._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 3: The Locals**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.. now we're back up to four people, with a less than stable Quarian joining the team. For now, anyway. Went a bit into the local terrain, more on that to follow, and hit the slave markets to Cieran's intense regret.
> 
> The next chapter will bring the local gangs into the picture, including both the canon Talons and the new group; The White Tigers. Cieran and Dorvahn will also have their conversation, finally filling in what Trisren and her team are up to along with what she needs from him.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	8. Act 1: The Locals

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Locals**

"Reyja'krem?" Rane's voice was quiet as she entered our darkened bedroom. The only light was the steady blue glow from my terminal screen as I tried to compile a report to Trisren about my new team member.

I had left the lowborn with Voya about an hour prior, after running her through some technical questions to make sure that she actually did know her stuff. She had easily breezed through them before interrogating me in turn, grudgingly admitting that I wasn't an idiot after a few back and forth sessions. She'd tried to slip in a few more questions about my background, though had frozen when I'd deflected and asked about her own.

Eventually she'd typed out that she'd respect our privacy so long as we respected hers, relaxing minutely after I'd agreed. After that she'd bounced back a bit, wanting to know what kind of weaponry we could give her, and how long it would take to get the information. The former was more or less whatever she wanted from our stocks. The latter would actually require work on our part.. and would have to wait until the Eclipse left.

 _That_ had brought on a whole new set of questions as to just what the fuck we were doing with the Eclipse, questions that she'd almost immediately answered on her own from what little we managed to say before she worked it out. In the end she'd accepted that we would have to ask her more than a few questions about the people who had originally enslaved her if she wanted us to find them, but was all right with waiting for a while until we had to have that particular conversation.

But by that stage I was mentally exhausted from the morning, and since Rane and Voya had shifted to both working on removing the remainder of the virus level shit inside of her, I'd excused myself. Checking on Dorvahn, and the now fully returned Eclipse, both the Turian and Elissa had assured me that everything was in hand. The pair of them were apparently passing the time by swapping war stories while the Salarians bickered about something that Jaroth was up to.

Reminding Dorvahn to stop by my room before he left, I'd slipped back upstairs and into said location. I managed to not throw any pieces of my armor against the wall, but it was a close thing. I hadn't even bothered to fully change after that, just collapsing into the chair in my under-armor and tried to lose myself in the monotony for a while.

"Rane." I didn't bother to move from where I was sitting at the small desk, crammed into the corner between the limited shelving that was haphazardly holding onto our clothes. "No deference right now. Please."

There was a slight hitch in her step, but I heard the door slide shut as armored feet grew closer. "I'm sorry Cieran."

A slow exhale made my fingers pause, leaving a short paragraph about her technical skills incomplete. "Is she in her room then?"

"Yes. Illyan was less than happy to have to move to the couch, but fell asleep almost the moment she had done so." The sound ceased as she reached me, hands slowly coming to rest on my shoulders. "I believe that we located all of the settings and code, and corrected everything. She has the control rod now."

I grunted quietly. "Good. Your opinion of her?"

Armored fingers squeezed gently. "I.. don't really know. She seems capable, but her inability to speak will be an issue. As far as what Shith said about her sanity.. I can't say much, I mean, I've only known her for a few hours. She seemed stable, if paranoid and angry."

"Which you'd expect."

"Which you'd expect." She agreed, my hair shifting as she leaned down to rest her cheek against the back of my head. "Pillars. I can't even imagine what's going on inside of her head."

"Yeah." Leaning back a bit, I tried to let her warmth at least ease some of the tension in my body. "I don't suppose you have any idea on how to help a woman who was enslaved, mutilated, and then raped?"

"Cieran.. I'm a lowborn. My family couldn't afford slaves, and associating with them isn't exactly something we were encouraged to do." A long exhale of her breath ruffled my hair. "As for the last part.. she seems to be handling it. I mean, from my point of view. I don't know how Quarian women normally react."

"Maybe we could ask Tris. Or Aethyta." I sure as fuck didn't know how to talk to her. If she wanted revenge I could definitely assist her with that, but as far as psychology or anything like that.. I had nothing. "Think she'll actually stick around?"

"Provided that we make progress on her hunt, and pay her on time.. I can't imagine that she'd do better on her own, and she seems intelligent enough to realize that." Her body shifted as she shrugged slowly. "If I can advise you.."

"No deference, remember?"

She seemed chagrined. "I'm sorry. Um, I don't think we should fully trust her until then. I understand arming her.. she'd find weapons even if we tried to stop her and it wouldn't go over well. But I think I should add a few more subroutines to our room's lock, and to Illyan's. And try to leave her out of anything to do with Trisren's group until after we think she's trustworthy enough to include."

"Agreed." Reaching up I patted the hand draped on my shoulder. "Good job on that control rod."

Rane let out a chuff of air. "Thank you Reyja'krem. It was.. Pillars, it was a pain in the ass. Give him credit where it is due, Shith had no intention of letting her undo his work even if she got a hold of an omni-tool."

"Brute forced it then?"

"Some of it. Others we worked together on to override his controls, forcing her implants to reset to the factory defaults. I think she's mostly working on getting them back into a useable format right now." She pulled away slightly, enough to straighten before carefully shifting the topic. "But she isn't the one I'm concerned about right now."

"I'm all-" There was a reverberating growl from above and behind me, and I felt my lips tug a little before I tried to shift the conversation from me to her. "You seem to be all right."

"I'm Batarian. That kind of thing.. isn't unusual to see in the Hegemony." her voice trailed. "Is.. is it a problem that I.. I mean, that I'm not.."

"Upset? Outraged?" My head shook slightly. "Like you said Rane, you're a Batarian. I can't change that."

There was a very long moment of hesitation before she spoke again. "Would you?"

"Of course not." Turning my head around, she took a slight step back so that I could properly see her face. "If you want to change, I'll help you to do whatever you want to. But I won't force you into anything Rane. You know that."

The lowborn let out a quiet sound, her lower eyes staying on mine. Her upper set was following my hair as one of her hands started to play with it. "Can you fault me for enjoying hearing you say it?"

"No." I let my eyes lazily drift closed as she amused herself. "You think Illyan will handle everything all right?"

It took her a few moments to think it over. "She's going to.. have it rough, much like you. I think we should talk to her about Voya before they actually meet. I don't think she would take it well if Illyan tried to treat her like another little sister."

"Athame's ass, I can't picture that going well." I snorted. "But I meant killing Shith, the doctor, and the gang. I can't imagine her having an issue with wanting them dead, but should we bring her along with?"

"All of them will probably be dangerous." I shook my head out a little as her fingers pulled the band free, my ponytail dissolving into a curtain of hair falling past my shoulders. She promptly shifted her other hand up, gently pulling and shifting as she ran her hands through it. "But so long as none of them are sponsored, I don't see why we couldn't if we are careful and prepared.. I do wish we could have brought her to more training sessions."

"Yeah." My fingers drummed on the desk. "Any issues that you see beyond that?"

"Only that Trisren might protest about how much we'll be doing on the side."

"If she's upset about it then she shouldn't have taken the Turian twins before I could try to recruit them." My eyes closed as I tried to relax somewhat. Two years ago I would never have contemplated tracking down people and killing them, even if I personally might have felt that they deserved it. Now.. dammit. I missed Trena already. She'd be equally furious about the shit that we'd seen, and we could have lost ourselves in planning crap. Or finding a relatively safe place where we could drink.

"Cieran." Rane let out a slow exhale. "We're going to kill them. I'm going to help you. So will Illyan. I'm sure they're still on station somewhere."

"That's not what I'm upset about Rane."

She actually sounded puzzled, her hands slowing their motions. "What else is there? I know you don't think that they deserve to live, and killing them can only help Voya."

"We're still plotting on tracking down people and murdering them." I reminded her patiently. "People who aren't a direct threat to us. That isn't exactly our usual plan."

"Murder implies that they have done nothing to earn what is coming to them." My girlfriend corrected me. "And I would not imagine that you are really concerned about that kind of thing, or else I would not have had to warn you against violence in the markets."

I opened my mouth, and then almost as promptly clicked it shut again. That was.. actually a good point. Why the fuck was I hung up on this? I'd gone tearing off with scales to fight the True Sons in the slums on the opposite side of Nos Astra on more or less a fucking whim. And Rane was absolutely right.. without her I probably would have done something stupid in the markets. Athame's fucking ass, was it seriously just because Trena wasn't here to agree with me?

Apparently my thought process was fairly transparent, because Rane let out an amused little sound. "Pillar of.. you really just realized that you miss Trena, didn't you?"

"Yes.. but.. I mean, I shouldn't. It's only been what, a week?"

"Which is the longest that the pair of you have been apart since you met." The lowborn shifted, leaning down to kiss my temple. "Has it not?"

It had been, now that I took a moment to think about it. "It.. yeah."

A quiet chuckle sent warm breath across my skin before she pulled back a bit. "Perhaps you should message her later."

"Probably should." Sighing, I turned back to the report still waiting for me to resume working on it. "First I have to finish this stupid thing."

She let out a quiet note of protest. "Cieran, that's hardly something that you have to do right now."

Blinking, I turned so that I could glance at her once again. "Rane?"

Her cheeks had darkened to a muddy red, head tilted almost entirely to the left as she cast her eyes down. "Would.. the Reyja'krem care to shower?"

Shower? Oh. _Oh._ "Will I have company?"

"If he would not mind."

My lips curled a bit as I tilted my head right, "Why would he?"

"I don't..." Rane let out a long groan before slumping, her voice almost turning petulant. "Because his omni-tool is flashing."

Glancing back at my left arm, it was my turn to groan as she was entirely correct. Dammit. A few finger flicks later had the channel open, and I didn't bother trying to cover up my irritation. "Dorvahn. What is it?"

The Turian sounded entirely unrepentant. " _Sorry for disrupting whatever is going on in that room Kie, but we need you out here. You're about to have guests."_

Rane quickly found my tie, fingers efficiently pulling my hair back once again. "Guests?"

 _"Local gang from the looks of them. A few seem to be casing the place, more are grouping up a few blocks down."_ He paused for a moment, " _There's also someone else, harder to track. I think they're observing both them as well as us but I can't get a good read on them."_

"Talon? White Tiger?"

" _Not sure. How long until you're ready?"_

"Less than five to be back in my armor." With my hair once more out of my face, the lowborn was already grabbing pieces from where I'd left them on the bed. "Can you hold out that long?"

Dorvahn let out an odd, echoing chuckle. " _I don't think they actually plan to attack Kie. I think this is an intimidation racket."_

"Joy." I muttered. "I'll be there in a few."

Shutting my omni-tool off with a snap, I likewise shut down the terminal after saving the still unfinished report. That out of the way, I stood up and caught the thigh plates and greaves as Rane tossed them in my direction. While I started yanking and buckling them into place, making sure that they sealed shut with quiet hisses of air, she heaved over the breast and back plates over.

Between the two of us we managed to get the medium weight suit back on in relatively quickly, with my SMG and pistol both fitting neatly onto my belt as the last touches. Grabbing my cane on the way out, we were met by an exhausted Illyan slumped against the wall near the stairs. Voya was more off the side, her arms crossed as she glanced between us and the big Asari.

"Illyan. You look like shit."

"Sorry boss." She wasn't quite slurring her words but it was close. "Damned stims crash."

"Get your ass back on the couch. You're more likely to shoot us then them right now." Shifting my attention to the other alien, I grunted. "Your suit have barriers?"

The quarian shook her head before rolling her eyes.

Right.. Should have been obvious that Shith wouldn't give her those. "Stupid question, right. Still need to get you a gun, but after that I want you staying up on this floor to protect Illyan. Feel free to glance down, if you recognize anyone send a message to my HUD."

She nodded even as Illyan mumbled something that might have been a protest before stumbling out of our way.

The three of us quickly thudded our way down the two flights of stairs, Rane leading Voya over to some of the weapon's crates at a wave from me. While they did that, I stepped through the open 'cage' door and into the actual 'retail' space. Not that there was anything there that wasn't extremely disabled and bolted onto the display mounts, with the actual weaponry kept securely in the back or on the second floor.

"Dorvahn. Captain."

The Turian and human woman both glanced over at me, the former's helmet nodding slightly. Someone was knocking at the front door, but since they seemed to content to ignore it, so did I. "Kie."

"I've got Ticker and Jakari on the patio." Elissa grunted through her own speakers. "They've confirmed it's just some locals, not the Talons."

I nodded, though the news didn't really cheer me up much. The Talons I could expect to be professional. These idiots.. probably not so much. As if to underscore the thought, the knocking grew into irritated pounding. "And the mystery guests?"

"One Turian, one human. Currently watching from three buildings down, that tall apartment one with a ledge." The Eclipse officer gave a little shrug of yellow clad shoulders. "Neither of my guys has seen anything else, I think we can assume they're just observing. Given the territory, probably Talons wanting to make sure another riot isn't about to start."

That sounded logical enough. I waited for her to go on, only belatedly remembering that I was supposed to be the one charge. "Captain, if you could get your guys down from the balcony and wait inside the door."

The nod from her helmet seemed a little confused. "You know we're here to be visible, right?"

"You will be." I assured her. "You're the exclusive first customers who would be rather annoyed if the idiots outside did anything stupid."

That earned me a little chuckle. "Going that route then? Let me know when we need to look intimidating."

"Will do. Altheus, you mind backing Rane and I up?"

The Turian gave a little bow of his head, "Lead the way."

By this point it sounded like someone was trying to beat the door down, which made me want to roll my eyes. The damn thing was armored and mounted on horizontal sliders that ran deep into the floor and ceiling. Voya had already apparently headed up on her own, leaving me to lead Rane and Dorvahn back up. After dodging the two Salarians in their yellow armor, we headed out onto the 'patio'.

Motioning for my companions to remain back, I carefully took a few steps closer to the railing, just enough to glance down before backing away. There were a dozen or so people below us, figure three or four more closer to the door. It was entirely a mix of Turians and humans, which probably implied that their group had racial overtones. I assumed that they were all armed, but armor seemed to be nonexistent.

Which would make any fight a very quick affair.

A quick flick snapped my omni-tool open, linking my radio to the speakers mounted into the exterior wall. After a moment of hesitation, I stuck with the Batarian language. "We aren't open."

The pounding ceased below us, a few people muttering to one another before a single, whining voice rose to reply in very poor lowborn Batarian. "That not problem. Just want all is talk."

Rane snorted from behind me. Resisting the urge to copy her, instead I managed to keep my tones level. "Speak your actual language instead of insulting the one you're using."

His English didn't improve his accent in the slightest. "We just want to talk with you friend, let you know how things work on this street."

"You'll forgive me for not believing your supposedly benign intentions, given that you are obviously not a member of the Talons." It was Dorvahn's turn to snort, and Rane's helmet was definitely muffling something that sounded like a giggle. "I would advise you to vacate this area before I become annoyed enough to make my displeasure known."

Nobody said anything outside for a long moment before I heard him mutter, "What the fuck did he just say?"

A female voice tensely translated, though she missed some of the nuance I'd tried to use. Definitely got the gist of it though. I could tell because he started sputtering with anger before managing to find his words, "You threatening me _squint_? You have any fucking idea who I am?"

I felt my cheek twitch at the insult, even if it didn't apply to me, it applied to the woman I was now sleeping with. Yanking my more rapid-fire gun off of my belt, I stalked forwards to the railing before lowering it in the direction of the man I thought was speaking. "Yes, I am threatening you. No, and you obviously aren't with Aria or a Talon, so I don't give a fuck what a _chenethic_ like you thinks of himself."

Some of the gang had the sense to draw their guns right back, but more seemed content to stare at me with their mouths open.

Their apparent leader had palid skin and was balding despite his apparent youth, and his voice was even more comical coming from someone as built as he was. He had been one of the few smart enough to draw his gun, an old model predator that looked like omni-gel was all that was keeping it together. "Look again _asshole._ We're the fucking Cavern Dogs, and we outnumber you. And for your fucking lip we're taking a higher cut."

My mouth dropped open slightly. Was he really that _stupid_? "You can't possibly be that stupid. Even as close as we are I doubt your guns would do more than _scratch_ my paint."

He sneered, revealing crookedly yellow teeth. "Like someone on this street could afford real armor."

"Um.. Tim.." The same woman who had translated earlier took a few steps back as Rane and Dorvahn moved up on their own, their rifles lazily pointed into the small crowd. "Maybe we should.."

"No! I'm not fucking backing down from this asshole! The Talons humiliated us yesterday, we can get back at them with the shit these fucks probably have inside!" He actually started spitting as he spoke, his beady eyes staying on me. "Look, I'll fucking prove that armor's crap and that we can do this!"

I pulled the trigger the second my brain finished processing his intentions.

The SMG had been set to single shot mode, which was all it took to blow a small hole through his unarmored chest. In contrast, his crap pistol's round merely sent off a few sparks as my barriers barely twitched. The gang members gave a collective groan, stepping away from their former leader's corpse as it bled onto the street.

Behind me, Dorvahn gave a quiet chuckle before stepping up beside me. "I believe that resolves the question of whether or not your armor is real."

"Agreed." Rane moved up on my other side, raising her voice enough to be heard. "Though the body does not add much to the.. ambiance of our new shop."

"Three of them." Someone muttered. "That's.. fucking Eclipse level shit they're wearing. You see it bounce the boss's shot?"

"Yeah.." The dark skinned woman seemed to swallow before carefully holstering her weapon. The others who'd been smart enough to draw in the first place quickly copied her, keeping their hands easily in sight. "Jim. Chahan. Grab Tim. Looks like we need to find new turf."

I watched, bemused in spite of myself, as the rabble quickly vanished. The body of their former leader made it about a block before it was unceremoniously tossed into an alley.

Elissa's voiced clicked over my comms as the rest of them vanished around a corner, taking the same tunnel that Rane and I had earlier. " _I'm guessing it didn't go to plan then."_

"Nope." My head shook even though she couldn't see it. "Idiot tried to shoot me. It was apparently enough for them to realize that my armor was not, in fact, fake and that they should try looking elsewhere for a payday."

There was a snort over my comms. " _Welcome to Omega. Don't expect intelligence from the rabble like you might on Illium."_

"Yeah. Go ahead-" A hand smacked my arm before I could finish, Dorvhan gesturing to the right. Letting my head snap in that direction, I grunted at the sight of two figures casually strolling in our direction. One was a Turian, head and body shrouded in black cloth, while the other was an Asari wearing the same dark blue and white accented armor that Dorvahn had.

"Go ahead and stand down." I finished. "Feel free to go get something to eat."

" _Kicking us out again?"_

"Something like that." Once the link was cut, I turned to the Turian standing next to me. "I'm guessing you knew that Tris was watching?"

He seemed to shift uncomfortably. "They wanted to see how you'd react to something like this. The pair of them have been waiting for one group of idiots or another to try since you all got here."

Rane growled. "And you couldn't think to warn him?"

"Orders. Sorry Kie."

I merely shook my head slightly, holstering my weapon as the two approached. The three Eclipse mercs headed out just before they reached the door, the two groups glancing at one another but saying nothing as they passed. Everyone had fingers near their weapons as they did so, which struck me as fairly sensible all things considered.

"So Tris. Who's the other? One of the twins?"

"No, a Talon. She thought you wouldn't mind some extra income, and as far as gangs go the group is fairly civil. Staying on their good side will also make it easier to sleep without worrying that more crap like this happens."

Looking back on it, my only defense was that it had been well over a year, approaching two, since I'd arrived in this universe. And even before that it had been a long time since I'd actually played any of the games. It wasn't until the three of us had traipsed back downstairs to meet the pair of them in the shop proper that I had to stifle a curse as I realized who the Talon was.

"Kie." Trisren had removed her helmet, holding it against her side with a hand as she nodded in my direction. "I see you're settling in all right."

"Nothing like a riot and an attempted attack by a gang to make someone feel at home."

There was a dry chuckle from under the hood, white and red shifting as Nyreen Kandros spoke. "It could have been worse. If you had setup in a district that my people weren't in you'd be under siege for weeks."

Purely for form, I drew myself up a bit and gave her a polite left-leaning bow of my head. "May I ask your name?"

"You can ask." Despite her words, there wasn't any heat in her voice. "But I think it's safer for both you and I to not know each other's actual names. Call me Red."

Red. It fit her, I supposed. "Then may I ask if we passed the little test? I don't doubt that your people could have slapped down those.. Cavern Dogs easily enough."

"We did yesterday. They were behind that lovely anti-Asari riot. While I would have preferred to avoid further bloodshed.. you did at least limit it."

"His plan was to avoid it." Dorvahn spoke up in my defense, "Use the Eclipse to intimidate them away. That idiot decided to shoot before he could give the signal."

Not that I was really upset about killing him. Hearing that he had also been anti-Asari killed whatever small amount of remorse I'd had. But what little I remembered about Nyreen was that she was big on protecting people, civilians in particular, so I kept my feelings to myself.

Nyreen's mandibles shifted a bit before she nodded slowly. "What of the slave that you purchased from the markets?"

"Freed, control rod destroyed." I gave her a slight Asari shrug. "She has a job here so long as she wants it. Also I might have promised to help her get back at the people who put her through a lot of shit."

Trisren's eyes narrowed a bit. "Kie."

"It was a take it or leave it deal Tris. And I didn't exactly have other qualified candidates lining up at my door. Besides, the crap that she's been through.. the people who did it don't need to keep breathing."

Nyreen let out an echoing hum that cut the Asari off. "I did some digging of my own when you came back with her. Keep the collateral damage down, and try not to let anyone track you back to this district. I'd rather not see people dying just because you got sloppy."

The or-else went unsaid.

I grunted, nodding deferentially with my head down and left. "I understand you, Red."

"Good." Her hood twisted as she slowly glanced around the room. "You have good weapons here. Better than most of what you can find on station. I'll direct my people this way."

I inclined my head again. "My thanks."

The cloaked Talon leader gave me the tiniest of nods in reply, gave Tris a deeper one, and then carefully backed out of the store before vanishing. She was gone for all of a moment before the Asari growled again. "Kie."

My left hand rose as I tried to withstand an encroaching headache. "Tris, one second please. Rane, could you be a dear and lock the door. Then go make sure that Voya didn't kill Illyan or something."

She nodded, an armored hand touching my shoulder for the briefest of moments before she was moving.

While she handled that, I turned back to Tris to see that Dorvahn had removed his own helmet, and was pressing his forehead against hers. "Calm down Tris. You approved his plan this morning, remember?"

The Asari let out an annoyed sound. "That plan didn't involve going vigilante."

"Vigilante would mean he would go above and beyond the targets that the young Quarian has in mind." I felt an eyebrow go up as he defended me. "He isn't that reckless. This station has enough evil on it, let them remove some of it and make at least her life better."

I watched as she exhaled slowly. "Siari says that revenge is never an answer."

"Athame disagrees." I pointed out. "Tris. These people enslaved her, slit her throat just because she talked too much, and then raped her after she lived. I'm not saying I want to take down Aria, and you know that we'll be careful."

Another long exhale. "And I'm sure that Rane and Illyan will side with you, which means it will happen whether I like it or not. Goddess prevent Trena from hearing hearing that I tried to stop you, she would never let me hear the end of it. All right, but you will run each mission by me beforehand so that I can judge whether or not you have everything you need to succeed. And our primary mission will still come first."

"Works for me." Glancing between them from the confines of my helmet, I tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Do I get to keep your boyfriend for a while longer, or do you _need_ him for something in specific?"

Blue cheeks deepened a bit in color. "That is none of your business Cie, but yes, I am taking him with me. Why don't you find Rane and see if she requires any help in getting out of her armor?"

My lips twitched a bit. "Eclipse will be gone in two days, if you want to setup a time for me to go over what your team will need before we officially open.."

"I'll comm you with a specific time. Until then, make sure everything is setup.. and take care of your people Cieran."

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Hey Scales. How's Illium going?_

_User 2: How it's always fucking going ape. Putting together a team with Vasir, some detectives, some of the old fish's girls, that kind of thing. How's Omega?_

_User 1: Shitty. Had to pick our fourth up at the slave markets. Wanted to eject the whole damned place into the void._

_User 2: Can't fucking blame you. Who'd you get?_

_User 1: A Terminus Quarian named Voya. Soon as we have time we'll be tracking down the people who abused her and dealing with them._

_User 2: Good. Not going to ask the details, you'd have given them if they weren't Athame damend awful._

_User 1: They are. Fuck. Feels like I need to drink half a bar just to forget about what happened to her, nevermind everyone else on 'sale' there. Shit. How's Erana? And Ghai?_

_User 2: Kid is all right. Misses you lot, but she's staying busy. Bondmate's fine, keeps yelling at me for pining about you not being here. Like I'd miss a long furred ape._

_User 1: Rane scolded me too, thinks that I actually want a scale covered bimbo in my life._

_User 2: Ass._

_User 1: Bitch_

_User 2: Speaking of, one of our first runs will be into Khar'shan Minor. That bitch have anything of yours or Rane's that you really want back?_

_User 1: Breaking into her mansion doesn't strike me as something that Captain Vasir, or the old fish, would support._

_User 2: So?_

_User 1: Rane's VI program she was writing for my armor. Might be able to repurpose it for a mech._

_User 2: Got it. Have to go ape, Ghai isn't wearing anything._

_User 1: You're making me glad that I'm not there to hear you two._

_User 2: Jealous much?_

_User 1: No._

_User 2: No taste in women. Fucking no taste at all ape. Nothing wrong with my rack. Or my ass._

_User 1: You're also short and covered in scales. And there's nothing wrong with Rane's ass. And I thought you were leaving._

_User 1: Scales?_

_User 1: Tit._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 4: The Blades**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.. we're getting to some of the plot, though it's a bit of a slow build right now. We've met our next canon char, and as usual Cieran's plans don't quite work out as he would have liked. Though in this case he isn't overly upset about that.
> 
> The next chapter will have the Eclipse leaving, and Cieran meeting the rest of Trisren's mercenaries. Illyan will also finally get some well deserved screen time.. once she wakes up.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	9. Act 1: The Blades

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Blades**

I stared into the darkness of my bedroom, feeling my heartbeat only slowly returning to its normal pattern. According to the small clock on the terminal off to the side, it was still a good three hours before I'd intended to get up at all. With our rotating schedule now in place, Rane's warm body had likely only crawled into bed with me just a few hours before as well.

Not that I could really enjoy her being here. Nor did I really see myself being able to fall back asleep anytime soon.

Fucking nightmares.

This one was more familiar than most, my hind-brain apparently deciding that going over the small fact that I'd been _dead_ was just the greatest way to let me sleep soundly. I had no idea if the disjointed things that I could only vaguely recall were actual memories of what-comes-next, a near-death experience, or just my mind inventing new night terrors. What I did know was that I fucking sick of them. I was also sick of the ones about the dead hotel staff haunting me for my failures, and I was especially sick of the ones concerning the dead True Son teenagers that I'd killed.

I just wanted to _sleep_ dammit.

When we'd been living in the mansion, a combination of a nightcap along with rather rough sex had been enough to knock me out. I still had the nightmares to be sure, but they'd been rarer. After we'd moved to the safehouse, they'd become more frequent. Especially after Trena had more or less stopped me from drinking myself into oblivion to escape the memories. Which was still probably a good thing... I'd had one foot on the road to alcoholism and I didn't fancy becoming an addict.

Not that I could just rely on pleasant sex with Rane either. Not that it wasn't good, it very much had been, but because the rotating schedule that we had going now wouldn't let me drag her to bed every time I wanted to rest.

The two local days that had passed since the Cavern Dogs had tried to intimidate us, along with meeting Nyreen, had been rather quiet. Having at least one heavily armed and armored person on the second floor patio at all times had sent the message I'd hoped it would, and most people actually crossed the street rather than walk too closely to our building, preferring staying near the ledge that would drop them to the level below us. It might have been the constant guard, or it might have been the bloodstain seeped into the concrete in front of the door.

Either way, it made guard duty suitably boring enough that whoever was 'on duty' could at least get some work done while they were out there. Not wanting to rely on the Eclipse, who'd finally left this morning before I'd gone to bed, I'd put the four of us in a rotating schedule of one per local 'shift' block. After that they'd have the next shift in the store, with the remaining eighteen hours of the day open to do whatever we wanted. Mostly it was for sleep, though everyone agreed to the rule that two of us had to be awake at all times in case more crap went down.

What that meant for me and Rane was that I was more or less always going to be collapsing a good five or six hours before her.

Blowing out a silent breath, I tried to carefully shift the arm lazily draped across me so that I could get up and at least get something productive done.

I managed to gently shift her only a few inches before there was a sleepy rumble. "Cieran?"

Leaning up and over, I pressed my lips against her temple. "Just getting up. Go back to sleep."

"Already?" She yawned, reaching around me to pull my hair aside. One of her dark eyes opened just enough for her to glance at the clock. "It's too early."

My left shoulder twitched slightly. "I'm awake."

The rest of her eyes flickered as she tried to focus on me. "Your head?"

"I'm not in pain, just... awake is all." From the way her expression continued to shift from sleepiness to alertness, that didn't reassure her any. "Usual nightmare crap, nothing you have to worry about."

The hand in my hair shifted back to gently touch my neck. She didn't actually say anything, instead simply closing her lower eyes while politely waiting for me to get over it and tell her.

Sighing, I moved to a more comfortable position, resting on my right side and looking at nothing in particular in the dark room. "Everyone gets something different to have to deal with. Erana can't be left alone, I have problems sleeping."

"Dreams?" My skin tingled as her fingertips started to trace up and down my neck. "May I ask about what?"

My left shoulder twitched, "Being dead on the operating table this time."

Her low voice dropped further, "This time?"

"People I've killed are the usuals, though those don't bother me as much." Another tiny shrug. "The hotel staff's dead and mutilated bodies getting up and trying to kill me for failing them is always an interesting one."

"Cieran.. that wasn't your fault."

Logically, probably not, no. Emotionally it sure as hell still felt like it. "My subconscious apparently disagrees."

There was a soft sigh before her hand wrapped around the back of my neck, giving a tentative tug. Acquiescing to her unspoken request, I moved closer to her. To my slight surprise, she gave another gentle pull, and continued to do so until I was more or less draped on top of her with my head resting on her pillow next to hers. One of her arms had wrapped around my waist, while the other had taken up her favorite occupation; the fingers softly tugging and running through my long hair as she played with it.

"How long have you been having them?"

"On and off since I killed a Salarian kid in Trena's shop. So quite a while."

The lowborn let out a quietly distressed sound, her arm tightening around me. "You never say anything. I mean, you seem tired quite often but I always thought it was just.. you and Shaaryak.."

My face heated up a little bit. "Well. That was a thing too, but definitely not the only reason."

A soft exhale sent warm breath across my face. "Did you.. want to talk about it?"

"Aren't we right now?" She gave my hair a bit of a harder tug, which was probably as close to remonstration as she could manage at the moment. "I'll be fine Rane, I'm capable of not thinking about it."

"With respect Reyj'akrem, that doesn't sound healthy." Leaning across the pillow, she gently kissed me before pulling back. "I know that my... remaining mental issues concerning our positions might make talking difficult, but would speaking with Trena help?"

"Rane, the only thing she'd tell me to do is drink more or pin you to this bed more often." Even in the darkness I could see her flush. "If I had to talk with anyone about the crap in my head it would be with you."

"Cieran... I know we're together now, but... I can listen, but I don't know if I can reply properly."

Sliding a bit closer, it was my turn to softly press our lips together. "Then we'll just have to work on that. I'm not exactly the sharing type so it isn't as if everything is going to be on you either."

Her dark eyes seemed to light up as amusement replaced worry. "Cieran Kean, Reyja'krem, not the sharing type? I had no idea."

I stared at her, feeling a bit of mild shock as my mouth opened silently for a long moment before I started chuckling. "I did kind of set that up for you, didn't I?"

"Just a bit." The sheets rustled as she slid closer, shuffling a bit downwards so that she could press her face against my throat and chest. When she spoke again, her voice was a bit muffled. "I am trying."

"You are." I agreed, my lips curling a bit as she yawned against my skin. "But right now you should be sleeping."

"As should the Reyja'krem." If anything she pressed a little closer, even as she yawned again. "Yet he is awake."

"Fully awake now." I pointed out gently, "And there's plenty of things that I can do to stay occupied if I got up."

Rane stilled a bit against me, and I could practically feel her face heating up when she mumbled her next words. "There is something that the Reyja'krem could do in this bed as well."

Given that she wasn't wearing all that much beneath the blanket, and was pressed very close to me, her words were more than enough to make my arousal begin to quickly rise. Still... as fun as it would be, she really did need to rest given how long she'd been awake. "You seem rather tired for that kind of thing. And you should be sleeping."

Sharp teeth pricked gently at my throat before warm lips pressed against the same spot. "I can promise that I will most assuredly sleep after."

Letting out a slow breath I reached up to wrap my fingers around the back of her neck in a strong grip, which led to a pleased rumble as her hips rolled to press her closer to me. Gently pulling her back, I had to resist the urge to simply roll her onto her back, instead merely pulling her far enough back so that I could lean down and speak with our mouths nearly brushing. "Are you sure?"

Her only response was to rise the half inch needed to press our lips together, her hands clinging to me as we kissed.

Perhaps an hour later, freshly showered with small bits of medigel carefully applied to the new puncture marks on my left shoulder and that side of my neck, I quietly slipped out of the bedroom. Covering a yawn with one hand, I tugged a bit at the collar of my dark shirt with the other before giving up on the idea of concealing anything.

"Let's see... shift four, so Illyan should be on guard duty. Voya would be tending the shop if we were open. Since we aren't until tomorrow, probably working on her suit or her guns." Muttering to myself, I shuffled down the hall and into the combined kitchen-living room. "Need food. And tea."

Having established that to no one besides myself, I set about getting a breakfast ready. Tea from some tiny Asari colony that tasted all right only when hot, but it had a massive amount of caffeine which was far more important. A few slices of bread and cold cuts provided the usual Batarian style breakfast that, at least three of us, were used to. Snacking lightly on that, I took a few more looks into our cabinets to get a good gauge on how fast the four of us were going through food.

"Going to have to go shopping in a day or two." The very idea made me grimace. Shopping for food on Omega was always an adventure. The Patriarch, a few centuries prior, had at least had the good sense to more or less ban conventional food markets. Instead all food, and the station's water purifiers, had been brought in and were heavily protected by his people. Aria hadn't wanted to see half the station dying when idiots tried to poison their rival's food anymore than her predecessor had, and so continued the process after she'd taken over.

It meant I didn't have to worry about what I bought, but it also meant that the district's food 'market' had been packed the one time we'd stopped there.

Tossing back the last of my tea, I set the cup aside before grabbing one last piece of bread and heading for the stairs. Emerging onto the second floor found the patio door wide open, revealing Illyan precariously balancing her chair on its back legs as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Hey boss. Up a bit early, aren't you?"

"Not _that_ early. And stop doing that before you break your neck or something."

Even from a distance I could see her eyes roll, but metal clacked as she let the chair fall forwards. "Voya's downstairs, looking for parts. She's souping up one of the sniper rifles."

I glanced at the various workbenches until I found the one she'd apparently claimed. "Viper?"

A blue hand rose as she gave me an Asari shrug. "Most idiots on Omega can't afford proper barriers, much less military grade armor or helmets."

Translation: Rapid fire was more important than stopping power. "Fair point. She still good to handle an extra hour or two of watch?"

"She was when I asked her five hours ago."

Grunting, I took a small bite from the food I was still holding onto before continuing down the remaining flight of stairs. Everything was still more or less in place in the shop, ready for whenever it was that we were actually going to open. The only things that weren't were the weapon's mods that a Quarian was more or less tossing aside at random as she dug through boxes.

"Voya." A three fingered had rose to wave vaguely. She hadn't bothered to get a skirt or veil like I was used to Quarians in the game wearing, which made her slim appearance a bit odd. "Doing all right?"

Her head bobbed in a quick nod, while her other hand rose triumphantly with an expanded heat sink.

"Just make sure to put all this crap back later. And note whatever you take so we don't try to sell it to someone."

Silver eyes rolled as she stood, a quicker nod making the whole thing seem sarcastic. A slight motion with her left hand sent me back up the stairs to get out of her way, her oddly shaped legs quickly bounding her up them after me.

Her omni-tool flickered to life once we were both on the second floor, my own pinging with a chat request a few seconds later.

_Illyan said it was all right to go through the shop inventory for what I needed._

"And you can. Like I said, just note what you take."

There was a very clear moment of hesitation before the next few words. _Thank you._

"It's just a heat sink. Take another one for whatever sidearm you're going to use."

 _I didn't mean for the tech, I meant for buying me from that bosh'tet before someone worse did._ Her fingers curled slightly before she resumed. _I know that I've been avoiding all three of you since you freed me, and I wanted to assure you that I intend to stick to our deal._

"As do I." I gave her a slight shrug in the Asari way, "And don't worry about it. I'm not expecting you to be as big mouthed of a fish as Illyan."

"Hey!"

"You know you are."

The big Asari gave me a pouting look. "I am not, and you really didn't have to say it like that boss."

"Voya, has she shut up for more than five minutes since I went to sleep?"

There were several blinks from the Quarian, her brain almost visibly trying to work out just how the conversation had turned. _Not really, no. I didn't really mind though._

Illyan muttered something that sounded an awful lot like 'traitor' before turning back to watch the streets.

Shaking my head, I returned my attention to our fourth. "The food all right? Everything working in your quarters?"

 _Yes and yes._ Her head shifted in a silent expression that I wasn't familiar with. _Can we speak privately?_

"Illyan, door. I'll knock when it's time for us to meat with Tris."

.

Another glance back was followed by a nod as an arm reached back to hit the door controls. "Got it boss."

Voya didn't type anything at first, instead opting to head over to her workbench and settle into the chair. While she did that, I took up a spot against the stairwell, leaning against the wall as I waited.

_Why did you tell me everything up front? You don't particularly know me._

Exhaling softly, I twitched a shoulder in the Batarian manner for uncertainty. "Lots of reasons, even if most of them aren't probably good ones. Look, Voya... I'm not a good actor, or good spy material. The only reason the boss on Illium wanted me for this mission was because I'm paranoid enough to survive on this station, and useful enough as a mechanic to actually help the main team. Even if I had wanted to keep you in the dark, I don't think that I could have."

 _You could have always just refused to tell me anything._ She pointed out. _And acting and simply lying are two different things._

"They are, But I don't like the idea of keeping people in the dark in general. A bad experience there. And besides, all the crap that you've been through... Shit. I fucking hate slavery. I'll admit to making an emotional call to tell you everything rather than a rational one."

The Quarian let out an almost dainty snort. _You do seem like you're being honest. That's something, I suppose. Why? Hate slavery, I mean. You don't strike me as the type who has been owned before._

Blowing out another breath, I leaned my head back in thought. "Call it instinctive."

 _Instinctive._ Amazing how she managed to make a text word seem disbelieving.

My lips curled a bit before a hand rose up and tapped my temple as the good mood that Rane's enthusiasm had put me in quickly vanished The suppressed anger wasn't entirely faked either, like it might have been a year or so ago. It seemed like the more time that went past, and the more migraines that I had to suffer through, the more emotional I got thinking about what the Matriarch had done to me. Whatever the fuck it was that she'd actually done inside of my head anyway. "You aren't the only one who's been attacked. Mine just wasn't physically."

There wasn't a response on my omni-tool, and when I glanced over I saw her starting unblinkingly at me.

"The migraines are something like a rusty knife working its way into my skull." Reaching behind me, I snagged my tea and took a slow sip from the scalding liquid before continuing. "So if there is ever a time when I shut myself away in the dark and take a few pill bottles with me, there's the reason."

She didn't reply for several minutes, letting me get through most of my tea as well as finding some bread to snack on. Eventually the computer on my wrist pinged again, the words flickering to life.

_You really aren't lying, are you?_

"Ask Illyan or Rane. They can give you what details that we actually know."

The next words appeared rapidly as she struck the floating keyboard. _You mean you didn't kill her?_

"Didn't realize it happened at first." I twitched a shoulder. "She either wiped my memories or walled off the ones about what happened."

Which wasn't technically a lie. Something had obviously happened the night the Matriarch had yanked me from my hotel room and dumped me on Illium. Well, beyond her burning the Thessian language into my head. Whether it was just her scarring my brain to stop me from bonding with an Asari and revealing everything, her trying to verify the information about the games, or doing something that I couldn't even think of of. Regardless, answers would have been nice.

Tossing back the last of me tea, I gasped at the heat of it before going on. "People in our organization are looking for her, but I haven't heard of any leads."

Voya fell silent again. Well, she stopped texting while I cleaned up the remains of my tiny breakfast. Silent was probably the wrong word to use given everything.

_Prove that you were attacked, and help me deal with the people who did the same to me... and I'll help you get your own revenge as well._

Huh. That... wasn't quite what I'd been going for. "To prove it you'd need my actual name in order to verify the medical records."

 _And you don't trust me enough to tell me that yet. Which is rather sensible of you._ Her fingers stilled before resuming. _Then consider it an addendum to our pre-existing arrangement. When we've dealt with the slaver, the doctor, and the assholes who did this to me... I will tell you some of what happened and how I ended up here._

Turning, I stared at the glowing eyes looking right back at me. "And in exchange, I'll give you my actual name and let you research Illium's public records?"

_Yes._

I let out a long breath. "If that happens, and I trust you enough, I will. Any other questions?"

_Are you really having sex with Rane?_

Talk about fucking mood whiplash. Groaning, I reached up and pulled at my shirt's collar to expose my shoulder. "Isn't it obvious?"

 _Well, yes. But given your species I remained uncertain._ One of her slim shoulders shrugged. _I won't bring it up again._

I snorted. "Athame's ass Voya, I've spent the last two years on Illium. Surrounded by Asari. Illyan isn't going to shut up about it, that's for sure."

 _Keelah._ A three fingered hand rose to rest against her faceplate. _She isn't going to try and seduce me, is she?_

"She knows better than to try for you. Rane and I on the other hand..." Sighing, I pushed off from the table. "Speaking of Illyan, she and I have crap to do. You all right to cover her guard shift until we get back?"

_Defending a store where the only ways in and out are locked or sealed shut? A lobotomized Varren could watch over this place._

How do I always find the sarcastic ones? "If you get bored, I want everything you remember, know, or think you heard about Shith."

Her eyes narrowed in what I would definitely call a predatory fashion. _He's our first target then?_

"We know where he is, who he is, and he might have information on where the rest are." A slow breath escaped my lips. "The timing is going to be a bitch, just warning you now. I don't want to turn slaves out onto Omeg'a streets to fend for themselves."

We just as obviously couldn't keep more people here, and trying to smuggle them off station had almost no chances of success. Even if we did get them out, _someone_ would see us and that would mark us for death by damn near everyone who didn't like the idea of vigilanties freeing slaves.

So you know, most of the fucking station.

_So we hit him when he has few or none in stock._

"Ideally."

Voya's helmet dipped slowly. _I'll see if I can create a bot to watch his extranet page to monitor that._

 _"_ Rane is good with code, she can probably help. Don't get too excited until I get back with how much work we're going to have to do for the main team."

_I remember what your priority is Kie, and I am willing to be patient._

The 'for now' went unsaid. "Then we don't have any issues. Have fun working on that."

She rolled her eyes again before snapping her omni-tool off and turning back to the partially dissembled weapon. Shaking my head, I strolled past her and the empty stations until I found the containers holding my armor. Throwing it on over top of my regular clothes, I took my time so that I could watch Voya work as I did so.

Despite the mess that she'd made downstairs, she definitely seemed far neater of an engineer than I was. Or Trena. Every tool went back into its holder the moment she was done with it, all of the parts were neatly placed on her left or right to always be within easy reach.

Fucking weird.

Shaking my head yet again once it was concealed within my helmet, I grabbed my cane before heading over to the patio doorway. It slipped open a few moments after I pounded a gauntlet against it, and I was glad to see that she'd had the good sense to put hers on as well. "Back in an hour, two at most Voya."

The Quarian didn't look up from her work, instead giving another half wave as we tromped down the stairs. My companion lasted all of thirty seconds without saying anything before our helmet-to-helmet private line crackled to life with her voice.

"What was that about boss?"

I shrugged a bit as I hit the front door's control panel, "She wanted to know why I told her who we were right from the start."

From there I gave her the short notes about what I'd said, and how our newest companion had seemed to react. We moved as I talked, making sure to lock the main door behind us before setting out for the upper decks of the Tuhi district.

When I finished, my companion grunted quietly. "Taking out a paranoid slaver in the middle of the Tuhi market isn't going to be easy boss."

"I know." I sighed, carefully lifting an armored foot so that I didn't step in.. something in the middle of the street. "But one, the asshole is a slaver and I'm not broken up about letting Voya kill him. Two, if we want her to trust us this is something we're just going to have to figure out."

"Do we _want_ her to trust us? I get that it would make helping out Tris easier, but killing people for a Quarian we just met a few days ago..."

"You think she'll stick around if we don't?"

The big Asari mulled on that for a long moment, taking the time to think it over before she shook her head. "No, she'd leave. And we don't have someone to take her place, and she'd be pissed enough to sell us out."

"Pretty much. All we can do is kill some people who definitely deserve it, pay her a lot of credits, and hope that she turns out to be not totally insane once she has her revenge."

I could practically see her biting her lip, even with the faceless helmet. "She seemed stable enough today boss. Pray to Athame that continues, or that that slaver was wrong about her sanity."

"Yeah." Shrugging, I knocked a bit of debris out of my way with my cane. "Almost makes me miss fucking Illium."

"What are you talking about boss? I've been missing it since we left. Well, not really Illium so much as Trena's tits and Ghai's ass." She waved a hand vaguely around us. "Although.. goddess. Here we are, walking to a friend's place. In full plate."

"You didn't have to come with." I pointed out. "You could be sitting in the safehouse in Nos Astra, getting drunk off your ass and having threesomes with Scales and Ghai."

"Shove my head deeper into the water why don't you." Her head turned as she directed a glare at a pair of Batarians who'd been eyeing us, and who promptly shifted a bit closer to the buildings on our left as they got a better look at her armor.. and her size. "I could always just go back you know."

I shrugged, knocking a bit of debris out of my way with my cane. "You could, but you won't because you still have some hopeless dream about ending up with Rane and I."

The big Asari made a pleased little sound. "That would definitely be a new one. The fur might make things a little awkward, but I could always focus on her. Not that either of you is about to invite me along."

"I'm not really big on sharing, you know that. No offense meant."

"None taken boss. Plus the whole thing where the pair of us would end up dead, rather puts a damper on the idea." She paused before her voice brightened. "Still. That gives me what, three, three and a half years to change your mind? I can work with that."

My eyes rolled within my helmet. "There you go. Using that long-term Asari outlook for a potential threesome years down the line. Way to reinforce all the stereotypes at the same time."

"Hey, I'm still wearing clothes unlike those two." An armored limb waved to the left, where a pair of nearly nude Asari were trying to wave us over. "Athame's ass. Why do all of the prostitutes go after us when we're out in public?"

"The armor." I grunted, shaking my head as I pointedly turned my gaze away from them. "Apparently word's gotten around that it's real, and that means it's expensive. From what Elissa told me, just wearing this around in public is basically broadcasting that we're beyond rich by Omega's standards."

"And also not people to fuck with."

"That too."

Illyan didn't speak again until we'd left Fumi, heading up a broad stairwell and into Tuhi's B-Deck.

"So boss, we know anything about Tris's group?"

An armored shoulder rose as my head dipped in an Asari shrug. "The name and species count. Three Turians, two Asari, two Salarians, and a Human. That's including her and Dorvahn, and I think one of the Salarians is non-combat. Figure seven people to arm and armor up."

"Plus that armor you still have to make for Captain Elissa, so eight."

"Assuming she ever gets me the damned suit, yes. Was supposed to get it days ago and it still hasn't arrived." I shrugged again. "Not that I really care, but with our luck it'll show up when we're buried with other work."

"I don't suppose telling her to kiss Athame's azure is an option?"

I snorted, "And piss of the Eclipse? Besides, already agreed to do it."

"I hear you boss, just.." her voice trailed off as we entered one of Tuhi's more residential areas, which more or less resembled the parts of Omega that you saw in game. ".. I don't like dealing with them more than we have to."

"Me either." My helmet shook slightly, "But that's what we're stuck doing right now. Soon as we're done with this assignment we can go back to Illium and make Trena handle them."

It was her turn to shake her head, "You say that like it's a few weeks off boss. We're going to be stuck here for months. Maybe years."

"Illyan... if you want out just say so. Rane and I will annoy Aethyta for enough funding to get a new assistant."

A hand reached out to wrap around my shoulders, making me stumble as she yanked me against her side in a clatter of metal and ceramic plating. "And leave you two by yourself to try and deal with this place? Not a chance Kie."

"Whether or not I like it?" Bringing a forearm between us, I shoved myself free.

"Pretty much." The cheerfulness faded into a disgusted noise. "Besides, can you imagine what Trena would say?"

"You'd be lucky to get any sex for a year. Or more."

"She's cruel like that. Bitch. We there yet?"

Something in my head throbbed as I brought a hand up to properly facepalm "Athame's fucking azure, are you a hundred and forty seven or just seven?"

"I notice that you didn't answer boss."

Resiting the urge to tackle the immature giant and strangle her, I let my arm drop. "You see the large sign, right there? Not ten meters ahead of us? The one that says 'Silver Blades' with an arrow pointing at the door."

Illyan paused for a step, her voice a bit subdued. "Oh."

Shaking my head, I let out a slow exhale before quickening my pace enough to get ahead of her. Rising a hand, I knocked a few times on the door and waited for a response. When there wasn't one, I brought my fist back up and pounded on the metal a few more times.

This time someone shouted back, their voice annoyed. " _Hold on dammit!"_

Wishing that I could rub at my face to properly show my own irritation, I settled for tilting my head a bit to the right while bringing my left forearm around to rest against my own back. It took whoever it was another two minutes before they finally opened the door, revealing one of Trisren's people. He was human, wearing medium weight armor of relatively good quality. Much like Tris's and Dorvahn's it had been painted a dark navy with white highlights, although he'd left his helmet elsewhere.

Dark, suspicious eyes watched us from above a roman nose, while his massive beard moved as he spoke. "We aren't recruiting."

"Good thing we don't need jobs then." My head shook slightly, "MacKeanen, from Ironhold Weapons here to see Trisren."

"Oh, the suppliers." Pale skin tightened across his forehead as he frowned. "Said you'd be human, what's with the Batarian armor?"

A muscle in my cheek may or may not have twitched. "It's easy to modify, and makes it so I don't have to breath this shit air. You letting us in or what?"

There was a definite scowl but he backed away and waved us in. The pair of us moved in after him, stepping awkwardly around his frame as he waited to close the front door behind us. As far as the building itself... it was very obviously a mercenary group's base. The front door had opened into a broad rectangle of a room, which was filled with workbenches, armor stands, and weapons racks. Secondhand couches and chairs had been shoved in wherever they could fit, and had definitely been selected for comfort rather than any sense of style.

Pretty much all of the group seemed to be present, most of them lounging around or working on their own gear. All of them at least glanced in our direction, a few even reaching for their guns, relaxing only when Trisren rose from a terminal she'd been working at. "Kie, you're a bit early."

Shrugging, I reached up and yanked my helmet off before replying. "Figured it would be good to get it out of the way. Nice place."

"Thanks. Come on, we can talk in my room. Can your assistant start getting everyone's specs?"

I nodded politely, "Illyan?"

"Got it boss." There was a hiss of air escaping as she took her own helmet off. "All right, who wants to give me their lifeday gift list first?"

A purple skinned Asari who had her legs propped up on a short table as she sprawled in a chair waved a glowing hand. I didn't miss the way her eyes tracked up and down Illyan's body, and from the large Asari's slight grin she didn't either. "Over here."

Sighing, I reached up and flicked Illyan on the neck. "Keep it clean."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Blowing out a breath, I just shook my head before leaving her to it and following Tris. Her room proved to be right off the main one, and wasn't all that much larger than the one I shared with Rane. She'd at least put some effort into making it feel more like a home though, with rugs thrown down on the floor and a blanket that looked handmade.

"Still trying to throttle the big girl's libido?" The tall Asari didn't bother taking a seat, instead leaning against the wall.

"I don't know why I bother." I admitted, taking the initiative to shut the door behind us before letting my back fall against it. "Hundred credits says she sleeps with at least half of your team."

Tris let out a delicate snort. "I'm not an idiot Kie. No bet."

"Worth a shot. To work then?"

There was a slight nod. "Work. I signed off on our first contract with Red this morning, we're helping the Talons hit the True Sons. So things are going according to plan so far. What I'm going to need from you, besides the gear upgrades and repairs, is for you to keep an eye out in your district."

My head tilted a bit to the left as I frowned in thought. "Think someone is going to try and move in while the Talons are busy?"

"If by someone you mean the True Sons, sure. The only other gang in the area is the White Tigers and they're currently allied with Red. Speaking of, if you can get a deal going with them it would be good to have a report on them."

I grunted. "I'll see what I can do. You know anything about them?"

"That they're allied with the Talons and hate the True Sons for something. Athame only knows what that is."

"So figure it out if I can." Reaching up with my right hand a I ran metal covered fingers through my goatee. "Awesome."

"You wanted the assignment Kie." Blue lips curled a bit when I glared at her for the reminder. "We're going to start launching our operations in a few days, but it's probably going to be a slog to get to the Son's main base. I'll keep you updated on our progress."

"Any hackers on your team?"

Her smile curdled a bit. "No. I might have to steal Rane when it comes time to try and hit their data center. She and your Quarian can run through the data after."

"And if they don't have anything on the hotel?" Which I expected. Even if the True Sons were smart enough to try and keep tabs on their former master's communications traffic, I had a hard time believing that the Blue Suns could have been so stupid as to let such a group actually hack it. But it was still one of the few possible leads we had, and it was something that we just had to deal with.

A shoulder twitched as she dipped her head in a shrug. "We follow the plan and try and get an in with T'Ravt. If we come across as trustworthy enough we might be able to get someone to Vosque's retirement home and interrogate him, or at least get to the old Blue Sun servers. That's long term though, for now we've got to focus on what's happening here."

"Yeah, I understand. Just not hopeful."

"Me either, but we have to start somewhere." She shrugged again. "Speaking of starting, when can I expect you to start your missions for your new girl?"

"Not sure." I admitted. "We have some research to do first, and making sure that Voya actually has armor for that suit. First target is the slaver we bought her from in the markets."

Tris pursed her lips. "That isn't going to be an easy run. You have a plan?"

"Few vague ideas, not much more than that. I remember your orders boss, you'll get what we're thinking before we do anything."

"Good." She grunted, pushing off from the wall. "You have any questions for me?"

"Watch for True Sons in Fumi, see if I can sell weapons to the White Tigers in addition to the Talons, give you plenty of paperwork on both, and keep you updated before we kill anyone." I ticked the points off with my left hand.

"Good." The thin Asari repeated herself, glancing at my cane and legs before her tone softened a bit. "How's your leg?"

I glanced down, hitting my left foot with my cane. "I can walk around just fine, doesn't really ache anymore. Running and fighting though..."

"Keep up your conditioning as best you can. Soon as you're back up to full I'll see if I can get you guys brought in so you aren't stuck just running a weapons shop." A few steps brought her close enough to rap her fingers on my chest plate. "You handling this all right?"

"I'm all right Tris."

"Well after the last few months you can't blame me for asking. Keep me up to date, and make sure that your new associate doesn't bring a storm down on your heads." Her head shook slightly. "Come on, let's go make sure that Herani doesn't have Illyan pinned against a wall or something."

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Hey Sis, everything going all right?_

_User 2: Goddess Illyan, I'm not in my fifties. You don't have to worry so much about me._

_User 1: I'm your sister, so yes I do._

_User 2: I'm all right, I have plenty of books to read when Miss Ghai and Trena are out on their missions. And I should be starting with Matriarch Aethyta next week._

_User 1: Don't let the clients run over you kid._

_User 2: I won't. How's Omega? Is Cieran doing all right? Is it as run down as the vids make it look?_

_User 1: It's... not a nice place Erana, I'm glad you aren't here. Like constantly being stuck in a bloodtide. The boss is doing all right, I think he and Rane are finally in bed together. Seems to be helping him._

_User 2: Goddess. Did you know that they had a bet on if it would be Rane or you who... you know._

_User 1: Athame's tits. How would I even be with him?_

_User 2: Miss Trena said you could use a disruption collar, that it would stop you from trying to meld when you, you know._

_User 1: You are WAY too young to be talking with Trena about things like that._

_User 2: I'm not a kid!_

_User 1: When you're a hundred I'll buy you a stripper, any species. Until then, you're a kid._

_User 2: ..._

_User 1: I can't see you stomping your dainty little foot sis._

_User 2: I hate you._

_User 1: No you don't._

_User 2: ...most days._

_User 1: Love you too Erana. Heading to bed now, stupid time zones on this station are a pain in my giant ass to get used to. Stay in touch sis._

_User 2: I will. Promise._

* * *

  _ **Next up is Chapter 5: The Discussions**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. Being sick is a thing. And so was Halo 5... and Starcraft II... and Fallout 4... so yeah, kind of ended up letting writing slide as my gaming addiction ran a bit wild. I'm making myself take a few steps back from that, really need to detach from the old xbox for a while.
> 
> This chapter took a little while, and went through a few revisions because of rust. Still not totally happy with it but it seems to hit the points I wanted to get out. Things will start progressing a bit faster in this particular act from this point on. Next chapter will cover a few of the Silver Blades before the store finally opens and Cieran has to start dealing with customers.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	10. Act 1: The Discussions

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Discussions**

Illyan hadn't pinned Herani to a wall, but she had stolen the chair for herself before pulling the smaller mercenary into her lap. Thankfully she actually seemed to be doing her job, taking notes on what the other Asari apparently wanted for gear in between their flirtatious comments.

"Herani." Trisren called out as she stepped past me, "Let the girl do her job, you can try and get a glimpse of her azure later."

"Oh come on Captain. Let the human get everyone else's crap." Even from across the room I could easily see purple skin tightening as she glared at her boss. "You have any idea how long it's been?"

"Forty seven days." The human who had originally let us in grumbled from the couch he'd stretched out on. "Why don't you just go buy a whore? The Captain pays you enough."

The Asari scowled at him. "You know how many diseases those things have?"

"Tons, but don't you already have half of them?" I mentally revised my initially low opinion of the guy upwards a bit.

His coworker apparently didn't share my appreciation for the snark, growling as she pushed herself off of Illyan while dark energy began to ripple around her. The bearded mercenary quickly started to rise, a hand dropping to the collapsed weapon on his belt.

"Herani! Wilhelm!" The pair of them froze at Tris's snap. "I've tolerated your goddess damned crap for too long if you two are about to brawl in front of our suppliers. Herani, turn your ass around and finish telling her about what you need for gear. Wilhelm, shut your fucking mouth or by Athame I'll smash both of your heads together until you stop bitching at each other."

Neither merc really looked all that apologetic, but they duly turned away from each other.

"This is normal then?" I muttered, making sure to pitch my voice low.

Tris let out a furious breath before jerking her head in a nod. "They've been fighting like a pair of rabid varren since they met. If I didn't need both of them I'd throw them in a room and wait for the survivor to crawl out."

"Huh." I glanced between the two, and also noted how the others seemed content to largely ignore what had just happened. "Suddenly I don't mind having to deal with Voya's crap."

"Don't make me stoop to Trena's level and hit you."

My hands rose in a vaguely surrendering motion. "I'll get started then. Anything you need?"

"No, start with the twins if you could." A blue hand rose and waved to shoo me away, but her eyes continued to flick between her two apparent problem children. "They need new everything."

"Great." I muttered, turning away and sliding between chairs and stands as I headed towards a pair of Turians who were sitting quietly in a corner.

Both looked liked they be as tall as Dorvahn if they were standing, and shared his leathery gray skin. Where they differed from Trisren's boyfriend was in their dark brown plating, and both had complicated red markings that covered almost their entire faces. One of them nodded slightly as I approached, his mandibles twitching as his brother brought up his omni-tool.

"MacKeanen. The Captain speaks highly of you." The brother who'd nodded spoke in his people's usual rumble. "We are in need of equipment."

"Quite a bit of it." His brother sounded just like him, with not even a slimmer of difference in his tones. "Our former employers did not keep us well compensated."

My eyes flicked up and down them, taking in the light armor and crumpled underarmor that was easily visible beneath the scattered plates. "Full armor replacements then."

Both of them nodded in unison, which became creepy when their mandibles twitched at the same time in the same freaking way. The first brother spoke as I tried not to take a step back. "Heavy plating is preferred. I will need an expanded backpack capable of carrying my demolition equipment, please mark said gear for Lorth."

"Heavy armor spec'd for demo work for Lorth." Bringing an arm up, I flicked my own omni-tool to life and started striking the blue panels to note everything they were saying. "That would make you Ratha. Heavy as well?"

Ratha Thexis let out a chirping sound that glitched my translator for a moment. "Omni-plating is a requirement. Do you have access to Armax weaponry?"

I just stared at him in reply.

Both of their mandibles twitched in unison again. "Haliat?"

"Tornado?"

"Equipped with a smart choke if possible."

"Done." Fingers tapped away again. "Lorth, weapons?"

A clawed hand patted a disassembled Phaeton on the table beside him. "My rifle is sufficient, though I may request specialized ammunition blocks from time to time."

I grunted, "I'll save you the bother and toss in incendiary and armor piecing with your armor. If you somehow burn through them let me know. Any tech mines or launchers? New omni-tools? Did you want reserve barriers setup in your armor?"

Ratha leaned forwards, resting his long forearms on his legs. "Cost?"

"Trisren is covering all of it." My left shoulder twitched. "The more shit you want the more time it's going to take me though."

The brothers exchanged a short glance before Lorth also leaned in, his mandibles spread wide in a Turian grin.

The next thirty minutes were interesting, to say the least. Apparently they'd been under the misconception that Tris had some kind of a budget, and so had set their initial requests simply enough to ensure that they weren't berated for the cost. With that notion out of the way, they'd launched into very detailed descriptions of what they wanted. In some cases with far too much gusto for my translator to keep up as they started speaking over one another. More than once I had to cut in to shoot something down, like when Ratha tried to convince me that his armor needed jet boots so that he could emulate Vanguard charges.

I mean seriously. Jet boots.

Thankfully most of the requests were more sensible, as well as being within the range of what we could actually do. Omni-tech plates, reserve barriers, internal supports to cushion against blasts, that kind of thing. Lorth was still fine with his rifle, though he did add in a request for a larger magazine. And I had absolutely no idea how Aethyta was going to get me the plastic explosives and specialized grenades that he wanted.

Still, that was a problem for later. And preferably for an old fish to resolve, rather than me. Once I the twins were satisfied with all of the notes that I had taken, I closed my omni-tool before stepping away from the odd pair and glancing around the room once more.

Illyan had apparently finished up with Herani, and was currently listening to a pair of Salarians. Trisren was currently speaking in low tones to the other Asari, and from Herani's expression the words coming from the thin woman weren't pleasant. Given that Dorvahn seemed to be absent, and since I knew he didn't lack for top flight gear anyway, that just left Wilhelm.

The fellow human glanced up from the tablet in his lap as I approached the couch, setting it aside as he grunted. "Done dealing with the twins then?"

I gave him a polite nod. "Your turn."

What little of his skin that was visible around his massive beard crinkled into a frown. "You always talk in blue?"

"Pretty much. Lived on Illium for nearly two years now, got used to it." One of my shoulders twitched as I tried to move on. "You have some ideas for equipment that you want?"

"New armor would be nice." A hand waved at the set he was wearing. It had looked decent enough at first glance, but up close it was more obvious that it was badly mismatched with the paint job covering up a good bit of problems. "Probably something a bit lighter than this crap if you can manage it. Need plenty of carrying capacity for my medical supplies as well."

"Hm." The computer on my wrist whirred to life once again as I thought that over. "I can work with that. Guns?"

"Got my pistol, I don't need more than that."

We spent a few more minutes chatting, but he seemed less interested in telling me what he wanted for gear and more focused on trying to get me to tell him anything about myself. He was even more obvious about it than the Eclipse had been, and seemed oblivious to my rising irritation as I tried to keep things on topic.

My companion thankfully came to my rescue before I entirely lost my patience."Hey boss, got everyone over here wrapped up."

"Good." Snapping my omni-tool shut, I gave Wilhelm a condescending Batarian nod that made his expression tighten. I don't think he fully got it, but he definitely seemed to recognize what species I'd gotten it from. "Thanks for the notes, your gear will get here with everyone else's."

The medic grunted something that I couldn't hear before grabbing his tablet again. Ignoring him in turn, I motioned for Illyan to head over towards the door before calling over to Trisren. "Tris, we're heading back out. I'll get you an estimate on time and cost in a day or two."

"Sooner rather than later Kie." She called back, turning away from Herani. "I'd rather have my people survive our first mission."

"I'll see what I can do." I'd mostly asked for the time for form. Since our 'opening' was whenever I said it was, and since Aethyta was fronting all of our salaries, there really wasn't any reason why I couldn't just delay getting the store going in order to get a head-start on their gear. "Might be able to start shuttling things over in two local days."

Tris nodded slightly in our direction, "Just send word ahead."

"Will do."

With a final wave, I yanked my helmet back on before following my friend back out onto Omega' streets. The door sealed shut behind us with a dull clang, leaving us more or less alone. There were a few drifters still out and around, nervously glancing our way before lowering their heads and hustling along, but for the most part the immediate area was vacant.

Illyan had her rifle out, holding it loosely in both hands as her helmet shifted left to right as she glanced around. "Local night or not, don't think I'll ever get used to this boss. Feels like we're being stared at from everywhere."

"Yeah..." Tightening my grip on my cane a bit, I started slowly heading towards our new home. "You find out anything interesting?"

"Herani is single and really needs to get laid." She grunted when my cane whapped her shin plates. "She's biotic support, talks like she used to be military. Or maybe Eclipse. Either way, probably knows what she's doing. Between her and Tris that'll give them a lot of control power, especially in confined fights on this goddess-damned station."

I nodded inside of my helmet, "What about her and Wilhelm?"

"He hates Batarians and she let slip that she dated a few back before the Hegemony closed itself off."

"Awesome. Have to watch him around Rane then."

"I think she can take of herself boss."

My eyes rolled. "That's exactly why I'm worried Illyan. I don't want to have to find Tris a new medic."

A snort sent some feedback through my speakers. "I hear you boss. Salarians were both pretty cagey. Fec is their sniper, but didn't let anything slip. The other guy didn't even give me his name."

I wracked my brain for a few moments, trying to remember it. "Ull-something. He's their communications guy, shouldn't need anything from us."

"Good. He was an ass. How were the twins?"

My mouth opened, closed, and then opened again as I shrugged. "Odd. And way too excited about not having to deal with a budget."

"Cant' blame them for that boss."

"Nope." I agreed. "Fec and Herani both need armor?"

"Yeah."

Great. That made five sets of armor that we needed to get assembled and kitted out. Plus a couple of guns, ordering a few new omni-tools, and support equipment. Was definitely going to be a busy couple of days if we wanted to get all this crap done as quickly as possible.

Illyan was apparently thinking similar thoughts, because she spoke up again when we were heading down the ramp that would take us back into our home district. "We delaying the open boss?"

"Probably. If we aren't on guard duty or sleeping, expect to be working on their shit." My lips thinned a bit. "Might have to give Voya some time to get her watch program up and running though, make sure she knows that we're willing to help her."

"Your call boss." Her words broke off as she yawned. "Athame's tits. This schedule is rough to get used to. Don't even have a warm body in my bed to make it bearable."

"I'm not going to tell you not to seduce Herani." A shoulder rose as my head dipped in a shrug. "Doesn't seem like it would take much effort."

"She's cute, but not sure if she's really my type." There was an almost theatrical sigh. "Might just be stuck sleeping by myself."

"If you're fishing for sympathy you won't find any in this ocean Illyan."

"You're a cruel man boss."

"That's me," I agreed dryly, "Torturing you by not caring if you're having sex or not."

She hit my shoulder in a similar way that Trena might have, though she thankfully pulled most of her strength from the blow. Armor or not I'd rather not have her actually hit me, I'd suffered through enough strikes from her during the early stages of my rehab.

The pair of us trundled back to our own district, ignoring or staring down the few people who tried to get close to us. But just like word had gotten out that our armor was real, the bloodstain from where I'd shot the guy in front of our building also spoke volumes to the local crowd. People didn't scramble out of our way like they had the few times I'd seen mercs wearing Aria's logo or Eclipse armor, but they definitely tried to give us our space. It never really felt like a fear thing, more of a respectful one. When Aria's people walked past, locals got the fuck out of the way and tried to act invisible. With us, people just kind of casually shifted aside. They knew we weren't people to fuck with, and so gave us our room.

Which was probably why I felt myself tense up when three humans in white armor moved to stand in front of us, blocking our return to the main thoroughfare. My booted feet stopped moving when were still a good ten yards away, and I subtly shifted the fingers on my cane so that I could quickly start hurling incinerates if I had to. While I did that, and Illyan casually stepped a bit away from me so that we both had room to move, I took a long look at them.

Armor looked decent, if a bit on the lighter side. A definite step up from what I'd expect the True Sons to be using without being up at the Eclipse's level. All three were clutching what looked like old model Lancers, which I thought were a bit dented but looked well cared for. The leader had added an actual bayonet to hers, but all three were keeping their guns carefully lowered as they regarded us. No helmets, which seemed to be an all too common sin on Omega, showing off their long hair and extensive warpaint. The white streaks across their cheeks and gleaming vertically on their foreheads revealed their allegiance without me having to look for a logo on their outfits.

Athame's ass. I'd been worried about having to track them down for Tris, looked like I wouldn't have to bother.

The lead White Tiger was a dark skinned woman, her hair braided and dangling down near her waist, and she held up a hand politely. "You are the Batarian who claims to run Ironhold?"

"I do own the store." I spoke in high Khar'shan, giving her a polite Batarian nod that neither offered nor demanded respect. "What do the White Tigers want?"

"Our Alpha wishes to know when your store will be open, and whether or not you have problems selling to humans."

Seriously? Their leader calmed himself the Alpha? Somehow I managed to withhold a snort. "I have no problems selling to anyone who can afford the equipment that I have in stock. It is all high quality goods shipped in from off station, you will not find the usual pathetic options on my shelves."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Rumor has it that the Eclipse helped you to get setup. We would rather not have our credits end up in Sederis's account."

My head tilted right and forward in annoyance. "They are being repaid with discounts. I have no loyalty to the mistress of the Eclipse."

"We'll see." From the twist of her lip, she didn't believe me for a moment. "You have any other clients who can vouche for you?"

"The Silver Blades and Talons are both interested in my wares. Feel free to contact either."

"I am sure that our Alpha will do so." Her chin shifted in what one might charitably call a nod, before she and her two companions both slowly backed away from us. They didn't turn their backs on us until they were another good five yards away, which struck me as a rather sensible precaution. Or at least, it would have been against anyone with terrible aim and equally terrible guns. So you know, most of Omega.

Illyan grunted as she stepped closer once again, the pair of us giving the gangsters time to clear out before we resumed walking. "Up to three customer groups now boss."

"Four." I reminded her quietly. "Trisren is officially a customer, remember?"

"Right, sorry."

We waited until the White Tigers were suitably far enough ahead before we resumed moving, stepping out onto the hanging street. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else waiting to accost us in the last few blocks, making the last few minutes of the trip relatively calm.

Voya was out on the patio as we returned, a three fingered hand resting on the low wall as her other rose in a greeting motion. Her omni-tool flickered to life a moment later as she opened the door for us, which struck me as a strangely polite gesture from her. The sneaking suspicion that she wanted something was confirmed when she practically bounced down the stairs to meet us in the shop, a tablet waving in my direction before I could even get through the cage.

Raising an eyebrow in my helmet, I took the thin computer and glanced at the screen. "...Plates, an asari model flight mask, additional tech plating, wiring... right, we don't exactly have much Quarian gear, do we?"

Her head shook before a long finger tapped the screen, following that motion with a wave towards the door.

"You want to go out right now?" A quick nod. I mulled it over for a moment. I'd wanted to go over everything we'd have to do, and try and work out a schedule to get everything done as quick as we could. But I couldn't really deny that Voya definitely needed more than a thin suit for protection, and until she had actual armor and barriers she wouldn't really be able to contribute to her own missions of revenge. "Illyan, feel like going shopping?"

The big Asari let out a protesting groan. "More walking?"

"Can't have you getting fat. Take care of yourselves, get her up to speed on what we're looking at as far as work goes. Voya, don't feel bad about hitting her." I glanced at the time on my HUD, ignoring Illyan's protest about encouraging abuse. "And be sure to be back before shift-change. You armed?"

The Terminus Quarian nodded again, patting a stock Acolyte on her belt before twisting her torso enough to let me see the Viper collapsed and attached to her back.

"Don't get killed. Illyan, go ahead and put everything on the store's account." When her broad arms crossed her chest I sighed. "And buy yourself something since I'm making you go out."

Her grunt was slightly forgiving, "Few tools I think we're missing. And we're definitely low on drinks. I'll stock us up."

"Just don't give the old fish a reason to try and drown me."

She waved a hand, "I hear you boss. Come on strong and silent, let's go spend someone else's money."

Voya gave me a nod that was vaguely thankful, narrowed her eyes at Illyan, and then the pair of them were gone. Making sure that the door was locked behind them took all of five seconds, and left me in a three story building with only a sleeping Rane as a companion.

Sighing, I lumbered up the stairs and tried not to wince as my left leg began to protest how much I'd been moving around lately. Another flight of stairs and a quick peak into the bedroom confirmed that my lover was both still alive and still asleep, not stirring as I quietly shut the door and made my way back to the second floor. Snagging a tablet from my workbench, I eventually settled onto the patio's single chair.

Occasionally glancing up and leaning over the low walls to watch the streets below, I spent most of the next hour working out just how the next few days would go. Sooner or later we'd actually have to open the store itself, just to keep up appearances if nothing else, which would basically cut out one person from work at all times. And since someone would also always be asleep, that would leave two people free. In theory.

"Need mechs so we're not stuck out here on guard duty all the time." I muttered, highlighting that note. "Wonder how much automated turrets cost..."

A few moments of extranet searching later had me wincing and striking that idea out. A pair of LOKI mechs wouldn't be great, at least by Illium standards, but were more in line with the budget that Aethyta had given me. And besides, Voya and I could always tinker with them. Figure one near the front door, the other walking a randomized pattern on the patio. Enough to discourage drifters and common thieves, and provide extra targets if someone more serious decided to take a crack at us.

Probably workable. And it would be something new to test my engineering skills out on. Theoretically it wasn't all that different from the power armor I'd long tinkered with, just with out the need to have a person stuck inside. At the very least we'd have to find a way to bulk up their armor so that they didn't just get trashed. And probably their legs to support the extra weight.

My musings were broken up when the computer on my wrist began to chirp and flash with an incoming call. Glancing at the floating name, I winced slightly before tapping the accept key.

"Aethyta. Didn't think you'd be contacting me directly."

" _Kid. Don't sound so happy to hear from your boss."_ The old Matriarch's voice echoed inside of my helmet.

"I just got back from meeting with my local boss." I shook my head slightly, not that she could see it. "Not used to having one boss let alone two."

Liara's father snorted. " _I'm sure you'll find a way to deal with it kid. I'm not planning on hovering above you, just checking on how you're settling."_

"It's a shithole, but we're surviving so far."

" _So I here. Also heard that you rescued a Terminus Quarian of all things from the slave pens. Do I want to know the bill?"_

"No." I admitted with a wince. "She was the only option available at the time, and has the skillset we need."

I could almost hear her shrug. " _I believe you kid, don't worry about the credits. I'm passing all that crap off to some flightless birds on Thessia. They can screech as much as they want, so long as what you buy helps you out feel free to spend your entire budget."_

"Trying to tempt me into deep water?"

" _I'm the one that's stuck in the damn deeps with all this political shit. Athame's azure I'd rather be stuck on that shithole with you lot right now."_ From her seething breath I didn't doubt that for a moment. " _Dammit kid, you got me all riled up now. That isn't what I was risking this call for though. How much you know about your new number four?"_

"Voya'chi vas Xentha." One of my shoulders twitched invisibly. "So she's from Xentha, somehow ended up enslaved on Omega. Got her throat slit, was raped for surviving that, and ended up being sold to a guy who specializes in 'repairing' damaged slaves."

" _...Athame's tits. Let me guess, you promised to help her?"_ I didn't get a chance to speak before she groaned. " _Of course you did, fucking noble human kid. Revenge is a messy business kid. No one walks away from that kind of thing clean."_

"You telling me not to do it?"

" _I'm telling you you were stupid to promise it in the first place, but since we both know you're going to do it anyway I just want to make sure you lot survive it. How many targets?"_

"Three. Slaver, Doc who fucked her throat up, gang who did it in the first place. Starting with the slaver to try and get a lead on the second two."

She grunted thoughtfully. " _Could be worse. Be sensible about that crap kid."_

My eyes may or may not have rolled a bit. "If I can convince her to snipe them from long distance I intend to. And Tris already made me swear that we'd give her any plans we make so that she can approve them before we go in."

" _Good. Be careful about her though kid. People aren't sensible when it comes to things like this. If she wants to dive into a raging ocean you might have to stop her."_

Which she probably wouldn't appreciate in the slightest, but I couldn't deny that that was something that I was very much concerned about. All I could do was hope that she wasn't stupid, or better yet, if that situation never came up at all.

Fuck. Probably just ensured that it _would._ Athame's fucking ass. "I know. I'll deal with it if I have to."

" _You get killed I have to deal with T'laria. That's a storm I don't want to fucking see kid."_

I felt my lips curl a little bit. "I hear you."

" _Fucking better. I'll send you all the data I've got on her culture, might give you some insight. Since I've got you, want a full run-down of your first week on station."_

I felt my head bow as I groaned. "You can't just wait for the written version? I've already spent three hours putting that crap together."

" _Suck it up kid. You're on Omega now."_

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: I hate you Scales._

_User 2: I know ape. Any special reason today?_

_User 1: You failed entirely to keep Aethyta from interrogating me for FOUR Athame damned hours._

_User 2: Sorry ape, was busy doing more important things._

_User 1: Like Ghai._

_User 2: That was last night. Today was trying to track that asshole Balak, he's off of Illium now._

_User 1: Really. Heading back to the Hegemony?_

_User 2: We aren't sure. He and that bitch apparently had a pretty big falling out, another one after she let the trade deal collapse anyway. Took most of his damned SIU with him._

_User 1: Dammit. Did you find anything in the mansion?_

_User 2: We're getting suited up to head in right now, should have information for you tomorrow. Vasir's people might have a lead for us as well. Remember that smuggler we were trying to hit, maybe six months ago?_

_User 1: What about her?_

_User 2: Rumor in the Nos Astra slums is that she took a break from shuffling red sand and dust for a more live cargo, but details are sparse. Even better, she's vanished entirely as of last week._

_User 1: Good yet bad._

_User 2: Sorry it's not all clear skies and smooth waves ape. You and Rane get busy yet?_

_User 2: Ape?_

_User 2: Athame's ass, it's about fucking time! She better than that bitch? Tell me she is._

_User 2: Ape._

_User 2: Ass._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 6: The Resolution**

 


	11. Act 1: The Resolution

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Resolution**

The following four days were rather hectic to say the least. After Illyan and Voya had gotten back from shopping, and Rane had woken up, I dragged all three of them into the living room to detail all the crap that we needed to get done. Nobody was particularly enthused that we actually had to start working, especially when I laid out how quickly we had to get things done.

Voya in particular seemed upset, which was entirely understandable given how many parts she'd just gotten in order to work on her own equipment. She did seem to calm down as the conversation went on and she seemed to realize that I was equally annoyed that she would have to delay upgrading her suit.

Eventually we worked out a base plan. Rane and Voya would handle the weapons modifications, as well as going out and finding suitable omni-tool replacements for those that wanted them. As soon as they got that done they'd be free to work on the trawling bot to keep an eye on the slaver's extranet page, and work on whatever Voya wanted for armor. While they did that, Illyan and I were basically going to be confined to the second floor to pound out the armor and get all of the upgrades into place.

In theory, I had hoped to get enough of it done in two or so local days so that we could open the next day, and slow down the frantic pace a bit.

Reality proceeded to intrude as it so often did. Voya got nothing done as far as her suit and armor went, as I had to conscript both her and Rane to help us finish up the armor when Trisren pushed for faster work as they had a large operation against the True Sons planned in the near future.

By the end we were all exhausted, with Illyan and Rane finally hauling the last equipment from the store to Trisren's base on the fourth day. While they did that, and Dorvahn was kind enough to watch the store for us, a barely awake Voya and I went out to do our own shopping. We probably overpaid for the pair of disassembled LOKI mechs that we dragged back, but I didn't particularly care.

By the time the pair of us returned to the store, we didn't even have the energy to look at the stupid things. Instead I just checked in with Dorvahn, who assured me that he was content to wait until Illyan got back before he left, and then clomped up the stairs after Voya.

"Look on the bright side," I groaned as I collapsed onto the couch, tossing my helmet onto the floor and wishing that I could get the rest of my armor off. I was careful to give the Quarian her space on the other side of the furniture, even if she didn't even glance over when I leaned back and tried not to groan. "We get one whole shift before we have to open the store."

One silver eye opened inside of her mask, narrowing in irritation before a hand slowly rose to point imperiously at me.

It took my tired brain a few moments to process what she meant with the simple gesture. "Right. Shift one. You get to sleep, I'm stuck running the fucking store."

Her eye closed in a fairly content manner. She followed that up by bringing her legs up onto the couch, practically curling up as she rested her helmet on the arm and looking like she fully intended on falling asleep right there.

"Hey." Reaching across the couch I poked one of her legs with an armored finger. "We have to work on your armor remember?"

A hand batted at mine irritably while her eyes opened enough to show glowing slits.

"Don't give me that. You just pointed out that I'm the one stuck working in seven hours. You've got nearly a day by Citadel time before you have to take your shifts."

The glare didn't lessen in the slightest.

"You want to be running around in just that thin suit?"

Voya continued to stare at me for another moment before very slowly turning away and pushing herself up into a normal seated position. She seemed to take a very long breath before standing, but she didn't make any move towards the stairs once she'd done so. Instead she crossed both of her arms beneath her breasts and seemed to stare down her nose at me.

I stared back at her for a long moment before groaning and hanging my head. "If you can't sleep I can't?"

One of her feet started tapping at the floor, which answered the rhetorical question.

"Let me get some tea at least."

Her disgusted snort was easily audible through her helmet, but she followed it by placing a dark gloved hand in front of me. A little surprised at the motion, I managed to not hesitate for more than a moment before reaching up to grab her thin wrist while her long fingers wrapped around mine before helping to haul me upwards. There was a slight hiss of pain as my knee throbbed, reminding me that I really needed to resume my rehab as best I could.

"Fucking leg." My head shook as I grabbed my cane from where I'd left it.

The Quarian quirked her head slightly, visibly glancing at both of them.

"Left one. Took a bad hit on Korlus fighting the Blue Suns." I winced a bit at the memory. "My tech launcher took a hit while I had an incinerate mine loaded."

It was hard to tell with the helmet, but she definitely seemed to wince. She definitely hesitated for a few moments afterwords, before rising her left arm and curling her fingers. I frowned at her, trying to work out what she was doing before her eyes seemed to roll and she brought her other arm up and did the same thing.

My turn to wince came when I noticed how one of her left fingers wouldn't properly bend all the way in like it's counterparts. "Need that looked at?"

Her head shook before she brought her right arm around a bit more and snapped her omni-tool open to a text program.

_Was fourteen, a group of drunken idiots started shooting up a bar near where I was living. Round came right through my wall. Doctor was an Asari and patched me up as best she could, but still don't quite have the range of motion with that finger._

It was my turn to shake my head. "Damn. That sucks."

_I can still use it, so I suppose I can't really complain. Will your leg heal? Humans don't regenerate like Asari do they?_

"We don't, no. Probably going to ache until I die but I should get my full range of motion back with another few months of working on it... which I should get back to doing." I sighed at the very idea of trying to clear out enough space, probably on the second floor. "You want me to get you anything when I make my tea?"

_No, I'll use the other machine to make mine._

_"_ Don't trust me not to screw it up?"

_No._

Rolling my eyes at her bluntness, I waved towards the kitchen. "After you then."

Her omni-tool flickered shut before she shuffled over to the kitchen, only slightly glancing back as I limped after her. It was a little awkward to do everything while still wearing my armor, but at some point I'd have to go out and talk to Dorvahn again. Call me stupidly paranoid but I didn't like the idea of even stepping out onto the patio without it's comforting bulk.

While Voya worked on her own drink, which honestly smelled a lot better than mine, I dug through the cabinets and pulled out my bland tasting elixir of life. Once I got it brewing, I leaned back with a tired sigh and brought my omni-tool up to make a call.

"Rane, how's the delivery going?"

My lover's voice was as tired as mine, and uncharacteristically annoyed sounding. " _Poorly. Herani and Wilhelm were having a dispute when we arrived, something to do with a mission that they just returned from. This time they got the twins involved, and Trisren was eventually forced to send them all to their rooms like juveniles."_

"Athame's fucking azure." Bringing my other hand up I rubbed at my temples. "How does she keep them under control during a fight?"

" _They are apparently professional enough to cover each other during a firefight, but fall apart as soon as they return to base."_ Rane let out a whistling sigh between her teeth. " _But Trisren has had enough. She's going to setup a sparring ring in the main room tomorrow and personally beat some sense into them."_

"Good on her. Take it you've got a few hours before you get back?"

" _Regrettably."_ There was a pause as I heard her take a calming breath. " _Are we still opening at shift-change?"_

"Regrettably."

" _Illyan and I will get things done here as quickly as possible then. Are you going to sleep soon?"_

"Probably not." I glared at the couch, in particular at the mute form who looked far too comfortable on top of it. "Not until you two get back anyways, might take a short nap after that."

_"Kie."_

"Yell at Voya, not me."

The lowborn exile was silent for a moment. " _Her armor?"_

"She seems to consider the idea that someone could be sleeping while she is stuck working on it to be unfair."

The Quarian in question glanced over from her own drink preparation to give me a slight glare before huffing and turning away once again.

" _She would._ " There was a quieter sigh that revealed just how tired she probably was. " _We will try to hurry this along. I will message you when we're on our way back."_

"Thanks Rane, see you-wait." Something she'd said earlier finally clicked in my brain. "They did a mission already? I thought they were holding until our delivery?"

_"According to Trisren it was a low-risk hit and run against a True Sun smuggling hanger. They just supported and advised a few Talon squads plus a White Tiger group."_ I could easily imagine her slight shrug. " _It sounds like most of the opposition was similar to what we first saw on Illium. Just rabble with scavenged guns."_

"Ah." My shoulder twitched slightly. "Sounds minor enough then. I'll see you when you get back."

She cut the link after a quiet goodbye, leaving me and Voya to our respective teas. Hers was sipped through a straw, gleaming eyes crinkling slightly as she seemed to enjoy the taste far more than I did.

I tried to drink as much of it as I could while it was still hot, eventually throwing the warm remnants back with a slight grimace. As if entirely enjoying my distaste my companion made sure to take her time finishing her own, almost regretfully setting it aside as I glared at her.

"Seriously? Showing off much?"

Voya contemplated me for a long moment before giving me the most cheerful shrug I'd ever seen from her and practically _strutting_ off and down the stairs. Resisting the urge to mutter uncomplimentary things about annoying female Quarians, I followed her back to our workshop on the floor below.

While she was finally able to start opening the containers containing her parts, I headed over to the patio door and flicked it open.

The blue and white clad Turian swung his helmet in our direction, inclining his head politely before his speakers buzzed. "Kie. Voya. Figured you two would be asleep after the way you were staggering around."

"I'll be awake until Rane and Illyan get back." Caffeine rush or not, I didn't think I'd have any problems falling asleep. "Voya wanted to work on her armor."

"And you couldn't say no to helping her?"

I sighed. "Something like that. I'd also rather not have to worry that some punk with a scrapyard gun shooting her in the back."

He let out a low hum. "Can't argue with that. I'll keep my eyes on the streets for you two."

"Have I told you're my favorite Silver Blade today?"

Dorvahn let out a deep laugh, "Don't let Trisren hear you say that."

Snorting, I gave him a sketchy salute before limping back to where Voya was seated. She already had a wire-frame display hovering on the corner of her workbench, the display showing a plain Quarian body-frame with red lines snapping into place as she attached simulated pieces of armor on her tablet. While she worked out what she wanted to do, I started poking around at the actual plates that she had bought.

Both of my eyebrows rose as I hefted a piece, "Didn't think you'd go this heavy. Thought Quarians usually went for lighter gear for mobility."

She paused working long enough to open another panel on her holo-display, shifting a text file to it so that we could communicate. _I'm not a naïve weakling from the flotilla Kie._

I blinked at the sudden tension in her body. "I didn't say you were Voya."

_I –_ her fingers paused for a long moment, and I watched as her chest moved with a long exhale. _Yes, I would rather have heavier armor. Even if I won't die from getting my suit cut up a bit doesn't mean that I'll enjoy the illness that comes after. Especially on this cesspool of a station._

"Not judging you there, I have no idea how people out there survive in the crap they call air." My head shook as I set the armor back into it's box before leaning over her shoulder to get a better look at the wire-frame. "Full torso coverage, strike plates on your thighs and upper arms... looks pretty solid. What about your head?"

_One of the boxes has an old Flotilla Marine helmet in it. At least fifty years old but I should be able to get some upgrades into it._

I grunted softly. "You want to start on that? I can start getting your chest and back plates in order."

Her head turned so that her eyes could glance at me.

"I'm not going to sabotage your armor Voya."

_I didn't say that you were._ Despite her words she did glance away when I gave her a flatly disbelieving look. _You said that you didn't blame me for not trusting you._

"And I don't, you definitely have reasons not to trust anybody right now. But I'm going to be right there," I pointed at the workbench directly next to hers, "Easily where you can watch everything that I'm doing. Plus, after all this why would I want you dead?"

_Do you really want me to answer that question?_

It was my turn to take a few calming breaths. Just how in Athame's damned name had this turned around so fast? She'd actually volunteered information about herself not more than a half hour ago, and now she was acting like she'd just gotten here again. "Voya... fine. It's your armor. What do you want me to do?"

She pointedly turned away so that I couldn't see her eyes, and I could only hazard a guess at what her body language meant. _Start on the torso plates then._

I grunted when she snapped the text file off, grabbing the appropriate containers before hauling them over to my own work area. Yanking the heavy metal and ceramic armor sections out, I set them on the table as I thought over what would have to be done. Linking the armor's built in readouts to her omni-tool and suit would be something she'd have to handle. And in theory the basic plates were already ready to go, but there were still checks to do.

Well, checks and upgrades.

My lip curled a bit in disdain when I pulled open the back-plate and got a better look at the power systems for the barriers. "Athame's azure. I'm going to have to yank the entire core and replace it."

The Quarian glanced over from where she'd been peering into the interior of a helmet that reminded me of Tali's extra mask from the third game.

"Underpowered Salarian garbage." I clarified, grabbing a penlight before leaning down for a closer look at the eezo lines. "Nodes look all right. Definitely enough space in here for a reserve barrier... you mind some extra weight?"

Her head shook.

"Extra strike plates over your vitals then."

Eyes narrowed in my direction.

"Just because I'm annoyed with you doesn't mean that I want you unprotected." Returning my attention to my armor I let out another calming exhale. "Do me a favor and-"

I didn't get the chance to finish asking for her to go downstairs and pick out the extra parts, because Dorvahn's voice suddenly filled the building. "Kie! We've got a problem!"

"If it's another riot I could care less!"

"Less of a riot, more of a potential attack."

Oh. Well that was... shit. Planting my hands on the workbench I used them to shove myself up to my feet. "True Sons? Tigers? Blood Pack?"

"Not sure yet." The pain in my leg was mostly forgotten as I hauled myself over to the patio door, looking down the street to our left as he pointed a long arm in that direction. "Three blocks down, a group of Talons just rushed into a building. They were carrying wounded with them."

I tried to make out anything that far away before swearing and whipping my head around. I spent a few moments frantically around the room before remembering where I'd left the stupid thing. "Voya, my helmet is next to the couch. And grab your Viper."

The Quarian was moving before I finished the sentence, bounding up the stairs in a black colored blur. As she vanished, I double checked that my own guns were still on my belt while Dorvahn kept the watch.

"That hotel Talon owned?"

"Yeah," I fruitlessly narrowed my eyes as if that would help me make anything out. The building itself was half built into the rock of Omega, just like the rest of them on our street, but was a good six stories tall with its top floor exiting onto the street that ran parallel to our own on the level above us. "We've seen them doing a lot of coming and going from there, I think it's their base on this end of the district. They can cover the main exits that lead to Tuhi on both our level and the next one up."

"Which means they can be hit from two different directions." He paused before amending himself. "Three if they're smart enough to move through the service tunnels and the alleys. I need to get over there to assist them."

My head nodded slightly. That made sense, the Talons were technically his employer and their routine patrols through the district had probably seen him on the balcony. If he _didn't_ show up to help them fight whoever it was it would cause problems for Trisren and her Blades.

"Any recommendations for us?"

His helmet tilted as he glanced at me through it. "Stay here and try not to get killed. If it's the True Sons feel free to take potshots, if its anyone else keep your head down and don't get involved. And call Trisren and your people for me."

I grunted. "Got it."

Taking a few steps back, we exchanged nods as he moved past me and headed for the stairs. He vanished a few seconds before a second set of feet began to pound down the set leading to the third floor, Voya practically flying down them with my helmet in one hand and her collapsed sniper rifle in the other. Catching the former when she threw it my way, I yanked it up and over my head while she started grabbing at her assorted armor pieces.

While she jerked the useable if basic armor on over her suit, I brought my omni-tool up to make the call. "Rane, we've got problems."

The voice that replied wasn't the lowborn's, " _We're aware Kie, Rane redirected your number to me. We're on our way to support the Talons right now, they're pinning it on the True Sons. Where's Dorvahn?"_

"He's on his way to reinforce the Talons." Stepping out onto the patio, I watched as he darted down the street towards the hotel. "Rane and Illyan?"

" _Left them at our base, door is sealed. They're safe there Kie."_ Trisren assured me. " _You and the Quarian are to hold up in your store. Fire only if threatened. I'd rather our close association be seen only as a business affair."_

A muscle in my cheek twitched. I could understand not getting into a fight with the Blood Pack, or the White Tigers, or the Brotherhood. But the True Sons were the fucking True Sons. Even if they may or may not have been responsible for the attack on the hotel, there was definitely ample motivation for me to despise them for everything else that they'd done.

"Tris, we've got a good angle on the hotel from here, and it's not like we'd be charging into the fray. If it is the True Sons we can at least-"

" _Athame's ass that wasn't a request!"_ there was a definite snap in her voice as she barked across the radio. " _Stay. Put."_

My mouth snapped shut as I swallowed my initial reply. "Understood. Will hold here, will shoot only if attacked first."

The line cut without another word, and I was left to silently seethe. Well, seethe was probably too strong. Being strongly annoyed and resisting the urge to hit the wall was probably more accurate. I could understand her reasoning, but the fight was about to break out _right there._ Not more than a hundred and fifty or so meters down a street that was both straight and level. Easily in range of Voya's sniper rifle or my submachine gun if I stuck to one or three shot bursts.

"Voya, you hear all that?" Glancing back through the doorway, I saw her nod as long fingers began to fasten her chest and backplates together. "I'll be out here, give you some privacy if you want to swap helmets as well."

I had enough time to see her eyes widen before I turned away, slapping the patio door shut behind me. Pulling my Watcher off of my belt, I let the middle sized weapon expand as I held it in a two handed grip.

Down on the street, things looked like they were still in the development phase. Dorvahn was now a distant figure, his limbs moving as he articulated whatever he was saying a fellow Turian wearing Talon colors. After a minute or so the pair of them, plus maybe a dozen other members of the gang, all drew their weapons and moved around the corner. Probably heading into the tunnel that lead to the next district, it had more than alcoves and general debris to serve as a decent position to stop anyone from getting to the hotel proper.

A few moments later had another group of Talons emerging from the building, but this group was jogging in our direction. Half of them stopped near an alley that supposedly lead into the station's service ducts, while the rest headed for another side-street just a building down from where I was watching them. A quick glance the other way didn't reveal much beyond the usual comings and goings of Omega's citizenry, though some of them had begun to notice the Talon's militarism.

Did have to give them credit, they didn't waste time standing and gawking. And once a few began racing for home, more noticed what was happening and quickly copied their neighbors. Those that had balconies or patios, or even just doors to their roofs, began to appear on the upper floors with weapons in hand. Which at least meant that I didn't stand out in being ready to shoot at anyone who threatened my place.

Behind me, the door slid open to allow an armored Quarian to step out behind me.

"Good look on you." I admitted, glancing up and down her newly armored form. She certainly looked a lot more solid with the thick plating wrapped around her, and I could also appreciate the way it made her look vastly different from what I'd normally expect a Quarian to look like. "Fit all right?"

Hefting her Viper up an onto a shoulder with her left hand, she brought her right up and waggled it slightly.

"We'll get it adjusted after this goddess damned crap is done."

Voya nodded before stepping up to the railing beside me, joining me in looking back at the hotel.

If the True Sons were the ones attacking the district, they were taking their time to do so. Several minutes passed where the pair of us simply stood there, waiting for something that wasn't happening. I was about to break the tense silence, mostly because she couldn't, when the first echoing cracks of gunfire reached us.

As I leaned onto the wall as if that would help me see around the hotel, things began happening a lot closer than that distant building.

The Talons watching the small alley-slash-side street began firing wildly into the confined space, most of them flinching as tracer fire slashed at them in retaliation. I felt my face pull into a frown at the volume of fire coming out of the confined space, my heartbeat accelerating as a pair of black and red forms collapsed before the rest began shouting and scrambling back towards their stronghold.

There was no way the old school True Son rabble could have caused that, which was why I wasn't terribly surprised when a pair of tall Batarians in heavy gray armor stomped out onto the street. Both of them began to spray assault rifle fire after the retreating Talons, even as another five or six veterans jogged out behind them.

Snapping my omni-tool open with a gesture, I linked to Dorvahn's comline with another. "Dorvahn, you've got a full squad of True Son heavies in the district. They pushed out the Talons and are sweeping towards the hotel."

" _Spirits be damned."_ His curse was punctuated with heavy rifle fire. " _Understood."_

My eyes narrowed as more people began to spill out onto the street. "And the usual rabble is pouring out, with another two... no, three veterans leading them."

" _Heading what way?"_

Voya rested her gun on the wall, dropping to a knee to minimize her profile as I had to resist the urge to do likewise. "Our way. Looting and pillaging normal in gang warfare here?"

" _Guess. Luck Kie."_

As the line cut, I did let my left knee drop to hit the floor. My omni-tool stayed up as I shifted programs, bringing my tech launcher online. "Their veterans usually know what they're doing, the rest are just fodder thrown out to cause problems. We focus on the former, I overload them, you drop them."

Voya gave me a firm nod, settling the butt of her weapon against her shoulder.

The nominal civilians on the building over, closer to where the True Sons were pouring out onto the street, opened fire with their pistols a moment later. The ragged weapons barking wildly as they shot without any thought to properly aiming or measuring their shots. Not that the fusillade that replied was any better, a wild torrent of tracers whipping around the small structure.

Both of the people who'd started the firefight collapsed as blood sprayed into the air, but more important to me was the sparks that flew off the wall of our store as a stray round struck.

"Excuse given." I muttered, rising up enough to give my tech launcher space to get the overload over my cover before I launched the first mine. Voya's rifle snapped out its first round a moment later, and then our fight was on.

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Trisren you skinny bitch, answer your damned messages._

_User 2: Trisren isn't here right now. Illyan and I are at their base._

_User 1: Rane?_

_User 2: Yes Trena. We're in a rather hectic situation right now, what do you want?_

_User 1: Don't talk to me about hectic girl, shit just went down that the Ape has to hear about. He around?_

_User 2: No. As I said, there's a situation._

_User 1: Athame's fucking azure. Fighting?  
_

_User 2: The True Sons are raiding the Talons in our district, we haven't heard if they're trying to attack civilians as well._

_User 1: Dammit. Shit, you're involved anyway. Aethyta and a few commandos as old and hard as her caught a hit squad trying to sneak off of Illium. One of them was apparently watching the Ape's old apartment._

_User 2: Pillars. Did they capture any of them?_

_User 1: No. Two lived through the fight but swallowed suicide pills after. The old fish went through their affects and found plenty of crap that could be used to accidentally start a few fires._

_User 2: Why would. They were going to make his death accidental, like the others Aethyta uncovered._

_User 1: That's our best guess right now. She's bringing in some other people she trusts to hack their omni-tools and anything else they had on them. We're still analyzing the haul from that bitch's mansion._

_User 2: I'll tell Cieran as soon as we get back._

_User 1: Good. Reminds me, how's the sex?_

_User 2: None of your concern._

_User 1: Athame's ass Rane, give me something._

_User 1: Rane?_

_User 1: Fuck you both._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 7: The Repudiation**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I had hoped to have this done by yesterday, but Fallout remains distracting. I am at least getting a few pages of writing done everyday, or at the very least a few paragraphs, to the progress is there.
> 
> Bit more conversation in this chapter, the prepwork more or less completing just in time for a raid by everyone's favorite gang. Things will be interesting with Dorvahn gone, and both Rane and Illyan stuck at the Blade's HQ. So it'll be up to Cieran and Voya to hold the store. Should be an interesting little fight, next chapter will cover both it and its aftermath (so expect another long chapter).
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	12. Act 1: The Repudiation

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Repudiation**  

My overload exploded directly over the first veteran's head, the less protected True Sons around him yelping and cursing as the artificial lightning burned away what few barriers they had. The swearing took on a very different tone when Voya blew out the Salarian's broad visor and sent green blood misting into the air.

Another armored Son, this one a Turian, had enough time to point at our building and shout for his subordinates to shoot at us before my next tech mine slammed into his chest and ripped his barriers away. Voya didn't manage to one shot that one, her first round striking his long helmet at a bad angle and ricocheting off with a flurry of sparks. It was still more than enough to send him to his ass, and she put her next shot right into his throat before he even had time to thank his spirits for surviving the first.

Unfortunately the third leader proved to be more intelligent that her companions, diving back behind our neighbor's building before I could get another overload into the air.

“Shit!” I swore as the enemies still out on the street started to fire wildly in our direction. A few rushed through the doorway of the building next to us at their remaining veteran's screamed orders, while others began to rush more generally in our direction. “Watch your heat, drop who you can!”

The Quarian half rose, still using the wall as a makeshift tripod as she began to take carefully measured shots that drew more screams and shouts of anger as she dropped the armor-less idiots.

While she did that I snapped my omni-tool off and brought my submachine gun up in a proper two handed grip. A quick flick of my right thumb set it to three shot bursts, and the weapon began chattering as I rose up enough to start snapping off shots. Between the pair of us we sent another five or six young idiots tumbling to the ground in maybe thirty or so seconds.

Unfortunately things didn't continue to be quite that one sided, as nice as it would have been. Rounds began to pepper my shields as the True Sons next door finally made it to the roof, the three who'd made it having much better angles than their comrades down below.

“Rooftop!” Voya jerked her weapon around at my bark, snapping off a pair of rounds before her rifle hissed as it overheated. Both of her targets jerked, though only one of them actually expired. The other gamely kept up his shots, making me swear as I redirected my own aim to put him out of our misery. “Watch your damned heat!”

The Quarian definitely threw me a glare as she ducked behind the wall, a knee bouncing as she impatiently waited for her gun to be ready again.

I knew that she had thrown me a glare because I'd just fucked up. Exhausted and running just on caffeinated tea or not, I didn't really have a good excuse for taking my goddess damned eyes off of the enemy. I was still in the process of bringing my head back around when a fucking Turian on the ground got a running start before launching himself upwards.

“Athame's fucking-” I swore as a clawed hand grabbed the edge of the meter high wall around the patio, the Turian's mandibles flaring wide as he hauled himself up and tried to bring his pistol to bear with his free hand.

Rather than give him the chance, I slammed the forward half of my gun across his face before putting three rounds into his skull.

His rapid death at least seemed to discourage anyone else from trying the same thing, but from the True Sons' perspective his death had been as valuable as his life. Each one of them that we killed took time and forced us to increase our weapon's heat, and my lips thinned as my own bar inched closer to the red as I snapped off several shots to kill the survivors on the roof next door.

“Voya!?” I flinched as someone down below got a shot that winged off my helmet. My barriers were still easily above fifty percent but it was still disconcerting to see the sparks fly in front of my visor like that.

The Quarian didn't bother nodding, instead simply turning back around bringing her weapon back up to her shoulder she tried to sight it against the True Sons still running around on the street.

There was quite a few to choose from. We'd killed maybe ten, but they'd been replaced and more by the numbers that had poured out of the damned side street. Worse, at least three more heavily armored veterans had shown up. The female, I was assuming she was Batarian from the language she was screaming in, was occasionally visible as she used the neighboring structure for cover.

Her companions weren't stupid either. Two of them dashed inside before we could get a good bead on them, but the third tried to get cute. The tall form grabbed two of his teenaged subordinates, hauling them in front of him as he made a run for our doorway.

“Right side, hit the vet!”

Voya swung her gun around as my omni-tool snapped open again. A few finger flicks loaded an incinerate mine. The flashing orange mine spat out from the launcher on my belt, arcing up and over the wall before plunging down to explode in a burst of fire.

Both of the Batarian kids hit the road screaming, flailing as the fire ate at them. The blast didn't do much to the asshole who'd tried to use them as shields, singing his armor and making him stumble for a step or two.

That was enough for Voya, who slammed a round into his chest to rip his barriers away before quickly adjusting her aim and putting her next shot through his skull.

“Nice!” It was the only compliment I had time for as the Batarian woman finally managed to get something like a firing line organized on the street. Most of the idiots were just standing around loosely but some actually listened to her and threw themselves onto the ground. All told there was a good fifteen or so throwing a loose barrage of pistol fire at us, which was starting to get worrying as my barriers kept nudging downwards.

To make matters worse a pair of gray armored figures hauled themselves onto the roof next door, and their guns were certainly not cobbled together.

Voya and I both dove behind the wall when the two assault rifles joined the barrage, my barriers flashing with alarm as they dropped below twenty percent.

“Same plan as the first time, overload from me, you hit them!”

Her eyes were slightly wide but she nodded gamely as I worked my omni-tool to load the appropriate tech mine.

Blowing out a short breath, I counted to three to give my barriers a tiny break before nodding and popping up. A quick gesture sent the tiny grenade on its way, and I dropped back into cover as both of the True Sons promptly sent long bursts into my chest in retaliation.

Which meant that I didn't see the result of Voya's pair of shots, though the way she fell back to one knee and tucked her head down as another stream of tracer's whipped over her head told me that at least one had lived. She confirmed that by holding her left hand out with just one finger extended before pulling it back and tapping her shoulder.

“Winged him?”

She nodded, glowing eyes seeming to wince in apology.

“You barriers?”

Her head shook, which didn't surprise me. We hadn't had anytime to upgrade her new armor plates, which left them with just the crap out of the box shielding.

Swearing quietly, I jerked my weapon up overhead and fired a pair of bursts blindly in the direction of the survivor. I don't think that I accomplished much beyond drawing the fire away from where Voya was huddled to where I was.

The incoming fire slackened rapidly when several seconds went by where neither one of us popped up, our barriers recharging while the gang kids wasted their time popping shots into the nearly foot thick wall.

“What the fuck is going on here!?” I had to give the human guy who shouted that credit, he managed to bellow it clearly over the gunfire still echoing. “Why the hell are you all just standing around shooting that building!?”

The Batarian woman's reply was audible mostly because the shots trailed off entirely, leaving only the distant fighting near the hotel to punctuate her words. “Signs say it's a weapons shop, got two heavily armed assholes up there!”

“Jesus fucking Christ, so pin them the fuck down and move on! This is a smash and grab job remember!”

Voya moved to rise, probably to take shots at whoever was talking, but I stilled her with a quick gesture. If they wanted to give us all the time we needed to fully get our barriers back, more power to them. And besides, maybe they'd be stupid enough to reveal names.

“They'll kill the kids in droves if we make a run for it!” She snapped back, “I know you don't care about our lives _assassin,_ but I'd rather not lose everyone on this raid!”

I was pretty sure that he replied, though it was hard to tell as his voice lowered to more sensible levels.

“Voya, barriers?”

She nodded before bringing her right hand up, pointing at where we'd last seen the vet on the roof beside ours.

I gave her a quick nod in reply. Electing not to bother with tech powers this time around, I rose in a quick motion and brought my gun around. The vet opened fire while I was still moving, but the firing group on the street had more or less broken apart as their leaders argued. My recharged barriers easily held his shots at bay while my own chipped and battered his own.

“Fucking shoo-” The Turian didn't get to finish his demand before Voya put a round into his chest, his weakened barriers not even making the shot slow before it tore into his chest. It didn't kill him instantly, that came when I put a three round burst through his shattered armor.

That problem out of the way, I shifted my attention downwards just as the new arrival stepped up. He was in gray armor like the other True Sons, but had somehow integrated a black trench-coat to give himself a bit of style. I didn't really have time to get a better look at him beyond that, because his right arm was swinging as he lazily lobbed a silver canister in our direction.

My body was moving the microsecond that my brain finished processing that there was a grenade flying towards us. Voya had her scope pressed to her visor and probably would have yelped if she could have when I practically tackled her to the floor.

“Grenade!” The word was out of my lips before something metallic tinged and then my helmet speakers screamed as the flash-bang detonated. I wasn't looking in the direction of the explosion but that didn't stop my entire world from tinging white for a moment. It took me a few seconds to regather my wits... sort of.

Everything was still spinning as my ears rang continuously. Heat blossomed at my back a moment later as my HUD flashed alarmingly, as either an incinerate or a frag grenade detonated alarmingly close. My hands managed to shove my gun back onto my belt, mostly from endlessly doing that motion rather than from any conscious thoughts from my brain.

Grabbing at Voya, who was barely moving, I tried to haul her towards the still open patio door. It wasn't exactly easy, especially as she didn't seem to be in any condition to help. Nor were the True Sons at all interested in assisting, instead lobbing another pair of more dangerous grenades in our direction. One took a fortuitous bounce off the wall, ricocheting back over the street before exploding. The second was better thrown, finishing off my barriers and sending fragments screaming off of my armor.

Swearing in all three of the languages that I knew, I hauled the Quarian up enough that we could manage a pair of stumbling steps before more or less falling through the open doorway. We managed it just in time for a fourth fucking grenade to off, this one yet another flash-bang.

This time it was my turn to be looking in the wrong direction. When I could see again the door was shut, the lock gleaming red. Well, the actual lock and the two phantom locks that were floating nearby.

Voya was slumped near the wall, her hands frantically yanking at her helmet. Her plain, if currently blurry, features came into sight as she hurled the object aside before she began violently retching.

While she emptied her stomach onto the floor, I just laid there and tried to gather myself.

I really fucking hated fighting intelligent enemies. I hadn't even considered looking into upgrades to help against things like fucking stun grenades. Really stupid in hindsight but I just hadn't run into someone who used the stupid things before.

After a minute or so the ringing had slowed and the double images had faded, letting me stagger over in Voya's direction.

The Quarian looked like shit, still on her hands and knees as her chest heaved. Her short white hair was splayed all over the place and her eyes were squeezed shut. She'd at least managed to drag her Viper inside with her, so at least we wouldn't have to unpack another one.

“Voya, you still there?”

She nodded very slowly.

Groaning, I rolled onto my stomach before pushing myself off the floor. Shuffling over on my knees wasn't exactly dignified but it didn't make me fall over as my head spun, so I called it a win regardless.

“Come on, away from the mess.” Wrapping an arm around her armored waist, she didn't resist as I hauled her sideways. The pair of us awkwardly stumbled away from where she'd vomited, making it a few feet before someone pounded on the patio door.

Bringing my head around I glared at the piece of metal as a Turian shouted through it. “Open up Batarian! You won't like what will happen if we have to break in!”

My eyes rolled at the threat. We'd just killed a good number of his gang, they'd have killed us regardless. “Go without water into a desert asshole.”

There was more pounding on the door followed by muffled swearing. As if just hitting the thing would get them through it. Aethyta's team hadn't skimped on the entryways, the doors themselves were heavily armored and extended deep into the walls. You'd need some pretty heavy explosives to blast through.

I shook my head and groaned as I checked my armor for punctures. Plenty of scratches revealed the silver metal and ceramic beneath the black paint, but nothing had gotten through to me. Twisting my head around, I gave my employee an equally long lookover. Her new armor was more than a little battered but it seemed to have held up.

At least until I got a better look at her left leg. “Shit, Voya, your leg.”

She turned to blink at me before following my gaze down. Her lips peeled back as she saw the blood dribbling down her oddly bent calf.

“Where's your disinfectants? Room?” The Quarian nodded before trying to stand, wincing in pain as she did so. Neither one of us paid much attention to the idiot still pounding away on the door. “Athame's ass woman.”

Not giving her a chance to argue I grabbed her left arm and hauled it over my shoulder. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as I pulled her fully upright before carefully taking measured steps towards the stairs. Navigating them drew hisses from her mouth with each step, although she did stop glaring and let me take more of her weight.

My omni-tool began to flash as we moved, making me awkwardly swing my right arm around her neck to properly accept the call.

“Dorvahn. Still alive then?”

“ _Same to you Kie. What's that pounding?”_

I grimaced. “A smart asshole showed up with a nice coat and a bag of grenades. Drove us back inside, we've got the doors sealed.”

_“That enough?”_

“Grenades won't punch though. True Sons usually carry shaped charges?” The Turian let out a chirping sound that was a close as he could get to snorting. “We should be good. How's your fight going?”

“ _Same as you, drove us back into the hotel but we've thrown back a rush. We've heard from Red and Tris, the pair of them are rolling in from the upper decks and should be here at any moment. White Tigers are supposed to be moving up from the lower at the same time.”_

I grunted as we reached Voya's room, my head politely turning away as she tapped out her password. “Losses?”

“ _Not as bad as they could have been. We fell back when you warned us about the group that came in through the ducts.”_ He let out an annoyed sound. “ _The garrison here was understrength, have to yell at Red about that. Could have held them on the streets with another dozen men.”_

“Get those ducts barricaded while you're at it.”

“ _Obviously.”_

The door hissed open, letting me help Voya limp into her room. Apart from the quiet hum of an air purifier it remained as plain as when we'd given it to her. “We're a bit singed, Voya's got a long cut on her leg.”

“ _I hear you. I'll comm again when they pull back.”_

I grunted before cutting the line, depositing the Quarian onto her bed. She was visibly wincing in pain, an arm waving towards a small box on her nightstand. Retrieving it, I popped it open before grabbing the appropriately marked medical supplies plus a long blue strip labeled as a suit patch.

Her hands batted at mine, grabbing them before I could even make the off to do it for her. Rolling my eyes I stepped back and spread my hands apart , “I'm going to check the doors. Try not to bleed out.”

Seeing her large eyes narrow without the helmet did a lot to enhance how irritated she looked at my commentary.

Leaving her to tend to her wounds, I limped back into the living room and then on down the stairs. The True Son had stopped pounding on the door, but there was a muffled thump even as I reached the second floor.

“Grenades aren't going to be enough!” I shouted in the patio's direction, shuffling over to grab my cane where I'd left it at my workbench. “Too bad you pissed me off, could have sold you something that would!”

I had to give the Turian credit, his vocabulary was rather extensive when it came to swearing. My translator didn't even get all of it.

Snorting, I limped back to the stairs and headed down a few. Just enough to confirm that the front door was still very much shut and sealed, and showing no signs of being forced either. Reassured at the expected sight, I turned back and stomped back to the second floor and over near the patio.

“Still trying?”

An entirely different voice answered back, this one speaking English. “Hardly. Credit to your construction workers, most people on this station aren't so thorough.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “And who should I say complimented them?”

“If you're going to fish for information squint, I wouldn't do it so transparently.”

“Can you blame a man for trying?”

His voice actually sounded merry. “Call it polite advice. My employers are rather upset with how many of their people you killed. Pretty impressive for an arm's dealer.”

I snorted. “Like that was subtle.”

“Better than yours.” A pause followed before he spoke again. “Well well, looks like the locals reinforcements are finally here. Just one loose end to tie up.”

My legs quickly carried me back and away from the door as I half expected it to blast inwards. Instead what followed was a muted gunshot, temporarily followed by silence.

Frowning a bit, and wishing that I had exterior cameras setup like I'd had at my apartment, I waited for something to happen. Aside from increasing shouts and more gunfire sounding outdoors, nothing did.

Easing my grip on my cane a bit, I shifted over to where Voya's armored helmet remained sitting on the ground. Grabbing it, and also snagging her old one from the workbench as I moved past it, I brought both of them with me as I headed back upstairs.

Once again my damned omni-tool started flashing while I was midway up the fucking stairs, leaving me stuck juggling the two helmets before I managed to free up my right hand to make the gestures to accept it. “Tris. Sons driven off then?”

“ _Kie.”_ She ignored my question to ask one of her own. “ _I take it that they shot at you?”_

“Me. Voya. The neighbors. Everything in sight.” Making it to the top floor, I headed back towards the hallway as I spoke. “They pull back then?”

“ _As soon as we and the Tigers made our moves. We raided them, they raided us, life on Omega. Although the number of bodies on the street by your building can't have made them happy.”_

“They aren't.” I filled her in on my odd conversation with the human, dropping off Voya's headgear outside of her now shut door. That done, I reversed course and started heading back down towards the front door.

Trisren let out a thoughtful hum as I finished relating everything. “ _Might have been that assassin from Illium. Krom. We did find a Batarian True Son who'd been shot in the back of the head out front of your place, didn't think you'd done it.”_

My lips twisted. “She poked at his pride.”

_“Yeah. That sounds like him.”_ She sighed. “ _I'm outside with Red and the Tiger's leader. Both of them want to talk with you, apparently the body count made an impression.”_

“Seriously? We butchered a bunch of young morons with no armor, crap barriers at best, and shit guns. We dropped what, four people who actually had decent gear?”

“ _Who had no real cover to use against you.”_ I could hear her shrug. “ _This isn't Illium Kie. Most of the Talons are wearing armor but it's barely better than nothing, and the Tigers aren't much better. Two people killing eighteen makes a statement here.”_

“Awesome.”

“ _I wanted you to keep your ass inside remember? Your goddess damned doors held well enough.”_

I winced at the reminder. “Sorry Tris.”

A ragged sigh came across my speakers. “ _No. I should have been more specific. You waited until they started shooting which is all I told you. Just get your pale ass out here.”_

“Already at the door.” Shutting the call off, I fired off a quick note to Voya telling her that the fight was over and that I was stepping outside. That out of the way, I used the same hand to unlock and open said entrance before moving into the open.

Outside the chaos of battle had been replaced with the gory chaos of its aftermath. Gunshots occasionally sounded off as the victors executed the fallen, and here and there people shouted for help as they hauled wounded around to try and get treatment.

The Talons were out in full force, a small horde of beings in red and black armor blocking off the street to my right while others were already at work hauling the dead opposition away. Their dour colors made their allies all the easier to spot, the White Tigers almost universally human and huddled in smaller groups as they talked amongst themselves.

All of which was interesting, but not as much as the three figures standing near the edge of the street.

Trisren was in her full plate, the navy and white armor pristine as she held her helmet under one arm. She was speaking with Nyreen, who still had her hood pulled up and over her face to only reveal bits of her mouth and mandibles as she replied.

That left me staring up at the third person on my own as he stepped towards me. A dark skinned human, his dull white armor looked solid and very well cared for. The color also matched the stripe style tattoos that covered his face and bald head, which in turn matched the thick beard that shifted as he nodded in my direction. Oh, and he was big. Like starting offensive lineman in the NFL big.

“So. You are the one who owns that store.” His voice was deep and almost booming, though I couldn't place his accent beyond Eastern European. “A most impressive showing for a Batarian.”

“Calm down Bern.” The Talons' leader stepped away from her conversation with Tris to lay a taloned hand on one of his broad arms. “He's as much of a Batarian as you are, though he wouldn't thank you for advertising that.”

His skin crinkled irritably. “Why pretend to be one of _them_?”

I felt my cheek twitch, but I kept my response in Thessian rather than Batarian. “My reasons are my own thank you very much.”

Both of his broad hands came up. “Ah. My words upset you. I am not fond of the four eyes, but I do not wish to antagonize the man who saved many.”

My head cocked to one side. “What?”

He and Nyreen glanced at one another, although it was the Turian woman who spoke. “You and your employee delayed the group the True Sons hoped would raid the civilians in this district, and killed more than half of them. Without you there casualties would have been much worse than they were.”

“Particularly with Krom present.” The White Tiger leader nearly spat the man's name. “He gives all humans a bad reputation.”

“Sounds personal.” I commented drily.

Dark lips twisted. “As you said, my reasons are my own. You spoke with him?”

“I did. Bit of an asshole but didn't seem terribly out there.” I dipped my head and brought a shoulder up in an Asari shrug. “Although killing one of his nominal allies for a pretty minor insult speaks for itself.”

Plus all the crap that he may or may not have gotten up to on Illium.

“It does.” Nyreen agreed. “But he can't be our main focus. You know that.”

He sighed but nodded gruffly. “The True Sons are the real enemy. They are the ones who hired him and returned him to this station.”

“Agreed. Now, MacKeanen. I will admit to being impressed what you and Chi managed to accomplish today.” Her hood shifted as she gave me a polite tilt of her head from one equal to another. Which she probably meant as a compliment but all it did was make my back tighten a bit in worry about whatever it was that she wanted. “I was hoping to discover when your store would be opening? Both myself and Bern's Tigers could use weapons of the quality that you offer.”

Glancing at Tris through my helmet, I saw her nod minutely before I spoke. “I already accepted my first contract, upgrading the armor and weaponry of the Silver Blades. That delayed our opening, which I had hoped would take place during the upcoming first shift. To be honest, I think that will be delayed at least until the second or third.”

Nyreen nodded again. “Entirely understandable given what happened here.”

“Agreed.” Bern rumbled. “But I am more interested in what other services you might offer?”

I blinked. “Pardon?”

A massive hand waved towards where the Talons were moving corpses around. “Are you merely an arms dealer, or are you open to more active contracts?”

Tris finally stepped in. “I already have a standing offer of employment open but he doesn't want to consider it until his leg is fully healed. Defending his store and home is one thing, charging off into a fight is something else.”

Both gang leaders glanced at my cane, the human nodding slowly. “I see. A shame, you would have made an excellent pack leader.”

Given the man's apparent anti-Batarian views I doubted it, but I nodded politely all the same.

Nyreen didn't seem quite so ready to give up though. “What about as a supporting force? We could use mechanics capable of repairing equipment in the field and able to defend themselves if called upon.”

I spoke before Trisren could. “That may be a possibility, but it would depend upon the situation. If you want to make the offer in the future I would be glad to listen, but I would like a few weeks to get the store up and running first.”

Behind them my boss gave me a long glare, which faded slightly as she seemed to think it over.

“Again, understandable and acceptable.” Aria's former lover inclined her head once again. “My people will check on you during tomorrow's second shift to inquire if you are open or not.”

“As will mine.” Bern grunted. “You say that you upgrade armor as well?”

“Within reason. We'll have a holopanel inside with all of the options we offer.”

“Then expect some of my pack as well.” I resisted the urge to ask why they used terms like that, instead nodding as he continued. “But we are keeping you from your deserved rest.”

Apparently that was all of the farewell that I was going to get from him, because he promptly turned and lumbered away. Nyreen turning to move with him, their voces low as they conversed.

Which left me with Trisren, who stepped forwards and made a show of helping me as if I needed her aid to make it back to the store. “Not quite how I wanted that to go Kie.”

“I didn't offer to sail into a hurricane for them.” I pointed out equally quietly as we moved. “I said I'd think about it in a few weeks. I would think the fighting would be over by then.”

“And if it isn't you get to kill some more True Sons?”

My lips twisted. “I'm not that bloodthirsty Tris. I hate them but I'm not going to go out of my way like that just to kill people.”

She eyed me slightly but grunted and nodded. “I suppose you could have run off with Dorvahn if you really had wanted to fight. Would you have stayed put if they'd all gone that way?”

“Wouldn't have been thrilled about it.” I admitted. “But you did make it pretty clear.”

“Like I said, not clear enough.” There was a long exhale as we reached the entryway, though she didn't let go of my waist. “Dammit Kie. You aren't in power armor anymore. I don't want to have to explain to Trena that you ended up dead because you got involved in something you shouldn't be.”

“I can take of myself... but I understand. Trust me,” Letting my cane lean against my leg I reached up to rub at my face. “I'm very aware that I don't have all that metal and steel warding off the sharks anymore. Rear-line repairs and support with a few weeks to work up to it is the extent of my adventurism right now.”

Tris grunted. “And Voya's missions.”

“Which shouldn't involve giant shoot outs with massive gangs.” I pointed out as I reached out to tap the door open before grabbing my cane again. “Speaking of Voya, I need to check on her. Cut to her leg, probably a grenade.”

“I'll get you some more dextro antibiotics and immune-boosters.”

“Can't hurt to stockpile them.” Stepping forwards as she let me go, I waved my right hand. “Let me know if you need anything, otherwise I'll expect to make weekly ammo and supply runs to your place.”

“I will. I'll tell Rane and Illyan that the streets are clear, they should be back in an hour at the most.”

“Thanks.” I grunted before we both nodded politely in farewell and I shut the door between us.

Leaving the store I trundled back upstairs, feeling a slow pounding roll rolling starting in my skull. Which was just fucking great. Because what I really needed right now was a lovely migraine to go along with dealing with the aftermath of the short fight that had just occurred.

Bypassing Voya's room when I made it back to the third floor, I stepped over the two helmets still siting outside of her door before unlocking my room and heading in. Divesting myself of my armor, I left it in a pile at the foot of the bed before digging out my own medication. Leaning on my cane, I limped back out into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water so that I wasn't dry swallowing the stupid pills. Throwing them back with a grimace, I tilted my head when there was a quiet tap on the counter behind me.

Grunting, I turned around to see Voya watching me. She'd was still wearing her armor over her suit, and had put the accompanying helmet back on. The wrist resting on the kitchen counter already her her omni-tool running so that we could actually communicate.

_I suppose that I should thank you._

“For what? Dragging you into a firefight with gangsters?”

Her gleaming eyes rolled. _For dragging me back inside after the first stunner._

I frowned at her. “Was I supposed to leave you out there to get blasted by grenades?”

Fingers twitched as she contemplated her next words. _I haven't exactly endeared myself to you._

“Voya,” My lungs worked as I let out a slow exhale. “That doesn't mean that I want you dead. Didn't I just say that?”

_You did, although I have a hard time believing it._ She stilled before almost rushing to type the next words out, _I mean, I had. I guess the evidence speaks for itself. Either you actually want me alive or you have a pointlessly convoluted plan to gain my trust and then betray me._

Snorting, I brought fingers up to rub at my temples as another throb rushed from the back of my skull to the front. “I'm not much for complicated crap. Simpler is better.”

_Agreed._ Her helmet shifted as she glanced away. _I guess I should apologize for earlier then. My people don't like being compared to the soft suits on the flotilla, even indirectly. I might have overreacted._

“I'll avoid that in the future then.” A muscle in my face twitched as the pain rose. “You know any equipment that can mitigate flash-bangs?”

_I will as soon as I wake up and spend some time on the extranet._ She seemed to shudder. _Assuming I'm not curled up and shaking with a fever. I loaded up on drugs but this station is disgusting._

“Can't argue with that.” My words became half muddled when I bent over and rested my head on the deliciously cold counter. “Let us know if you need anything. Maybe we should pressurize this whole damned building.”

It took me a few moments to realize that while my head appreciated what I'd done, it left me unable to read what she was writing on her omni-tool. Groaning slightly, I pushed myself back up and forced my eyes to stay open.

_It would be nice to not have to wear my helmet all the time. Are you all right?_

I grunted. “Migraine. Always happens at the most annoying times.”

_Oh._ She leaned in a bit, glowing eyes vanishing and re-appearing as she blinked. _Didn't you say that you would be in the dark and alone?_

“You wanted to talk. And I also wanted to make sure your leg is good.”

_It's a shallow cut, not a through and through blast from a shotgun. Honestly the stun grenade was worse._ Which also served to remind me that we still had to clean up the area near the patio door. _How badly does your head hurt?_

“Enough.”

_Then perhaps you should at least lay down on the couch instead of staring into the distance with a stupid expression on your face?_

A muscle in my cheek twitched once again. “Seriously? You start opening up and I get more of what I hear from Illyan?”

_Unlike her I won't let you hit me._ Her head tilted in what I thought was amusement. _Unless you want to lose a hand._

Another twitch, this one accompanied by a throb of pain. “So I get to be verbally abused via texts and I can't even fight back?”

_Perhaps if you aren't a bosh'tet I won't 'abuse' you. Something to work towards._

I could only groan and lower my head back to the counter.

* * *

_**A Scaled Perspective** _

_**That Day, Nos Astra, Illium** _  

I tried to enjoy the fragrant smoke filling my lungs, wishing to Athame that the damned flavor would do more to calm me down.

As usual, she didn't bother answering, leaving me stuck in the old fish's office as I bitched her out about her latest fucking idea to leave the ape in the dark. “Aethyta, this isn't shit that we can just keep from him.”

The old Matriarch looked as impressed as she ever was when I got annoyed with her. “Don't get me started T'laria. You already slipped up and got him worried about the others that died before he came along.”

I scowled at the bitch. “Which I was fucking against not telling him from the start. Athame's ass he's not some child, and that _thing_ pretending to be an Asari fucking _raped_ him. And now apparently she was going to have the both of us drowned to cover her ass.”

“All of which you can tell him girl.”

A hand shot up to yank my pipe from my mouth so I could stab it in her direction. “Fine, fucking good. But if they were going to be moving their blue asses on to kill another fucking Asari-Human pair on Omega he should know.”

Aethyta reached out and grabbed the still smoking wood, irritably throwing it aside. “So he can do what? Swim out to fucking sea trying to find them? Expose himself when we know that they transmitted the news that he's dead? We don't know their names, ages, descriptions. Just that they're somewhere in Afterlife's district, which only has a few hundred thousand goddess-damned people living in it.”

Fucking... shit! Spinning away from her I paced in the small space as best I could. I hated it whenever she did this. Made it seem so smart and logical and the right thing to do even if it left me feeling like a redfin had my heart in its mouth.

The Matriarch planted both hands on her desk before exhaling. “You know him better than I do girl. Would he sit on the information or would he go looking?”

I had no fucking idea. Nor did the shit that I'd read in his will give me any insight. If the Matriarch was trying to find or create some Chosen One for one shit reason or another Omega didn't seem to be the place where'd she'd do it. Not if he was right and that celebrity human commando was going to be involved. Which meant it was probably another poor sucker used to test her mental shit.

If I could figure that crap out, so could the ape. From the tone of his will I didn't think he'd want anything to do with the chosen whatever, but if there was someone out there who'd gone through the same shit he had...

Athame's fucking azure.

“He'd try to find them.” I exhaled heavily, limping over to where my pipe had fallen. “I don't think he'd be stupid about it, but he'd ignore anything you or I said if it meant figuring out what the fuck happened to him.”

“Which I don't blame him for.” Aethyta shook her head slowly, letting her head hang a bit. “But we've only got two leads right now and that's one of them.”

Grimacing, I bent down and retrieved my property. “You want to tell him that the bitches were Nightwind?”

“Him and Tris need to know that.” For the first time since I'd met her the old fish looked nervous, glancing at the window that looked over Nos Astra's star-port. “If the Matriarch can order around the government's personal hit squads... we're in the deepest of waters here girl.”

No shit. I'd fucking near had a heart attack when I'd seen the distinctive brands burned onto their stomachs. Even the other old sharks that Aethyta had pulled in for that op had looked horrified that they'd just wiped out one of their own government's assassin teams.

Though at least it meant that they sure as shit weren't going to betray her or us now. Better than nothing I guess.

“We done here?” I needed to get back to the safehouse and finish cracking what we'd lifted from the Shaaryak mansion's servers. Detective Wear'an thought she might have gotten a hidden SIU packet, which could go a long way in figuring just what those condescending assholes had been up to.

And if they'd had anything to do with the hotel massacre.

“Yeah. I'll tell the kid, you can go bang your bondmate until you forget all this crap.”

I rolled my eyes and stomped out without another word. That part went without saying.

 

**Next up is Chapter 8: The Column**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, bit of a short little brawl followed by its aftermath. Was a surprisingly hard fight scene to write given the odd terrain (all of the buildings on one side of the street) and the fact that Voya can't say anything while it's happening. Hopefully it turned out all right and sets things up for what's coming in the rest of this act. The next chapter will have Cieran and Rane going over things a bit. After that will the be store opening and maybe a bit of a time skip before things progress into the mini-arc that will encompass chapters nine through eleven.
> 
> After that you should be able to expect an interlude of at least one, possibly two chapters before Act 2 begins. Given the long period of time that his story will cover, expect a sizable time skip between Acts 1 and 2 (several weeks at least).
> 
> I couldn't think of a good com log for this one, given how little time this chapter actually occupied. So instead I tried another new thing, hopefully people enjoy a return to someone else's perspective even if for a very short period of time.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as “I enjoyed it, please continue.”
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	13. Act 1: The Column

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Column**

An hour and a half later found me laying in our dark bedroom, my head secure in Rane's lap as she gently massaged my scalp. Her voice was apologetic as she relayed what she had heard from Trena, and then Aethyta, while she and Illyan had been stuck at Trisren's place.

I exhaled slowly as she trailed off. "So now we can't even trust people outside of Intelligence in the same government that we work for."

"Anyone outside of the cells that we're working in." Rane corrected quietly, her hands warm against my face. "And she thinks it best that Voya not be told until we trust her."

I couldn't really argue with that. I had no idea if the miniscule progress that I'd made with the Quarian would survive if she found out that we were worried about our own employer wanting me dead. And probably anyone that I'd spoken to. "Such a great day."

"A more sensitive woman might say that any day where she brings a Reyja'krem to her bed is a great day." Even in the semi-darkness I could see the small smile on her face. "Perhaps it is a good thing that I am not sensitive."

Chuckling quietly, I reached up and let my fingers trail across the dominant side of her neck, enjoying the way her upper eyes closed at the touch. "You're plenty sensitive in certain places."

Rane's skin darkened slightly. "That is not quite what I meant."

"I know." My other hand moved to cover my mouth as I yawned. "But it's still true."

She merely sighed before softly brushing some of my loose hair over my eyes. "Are we still opening in the second shift?"

"Yeah." It was my turn to let out a slow breath. "Do you know when Aethyta is sending the links?"

Said links would supposedly take me to images showing every Asari government official who might have had the authority to dispatch a Nightwind team. Given how expansive and convoluted the Republics' leadership was, I'd probably be stuck going through a few hundred of the damned things and hoping that I recognized one. Either as the Matriarch or someone close enough that they might be a relative. Of course, that was assuming that I could trust my memory as to what she looked like.

But that was why Trena was apparently going to be stuck with the same luckless task. Maybe I'd get lucky and Ghai would make her do it before I had the time to do so.

"Soon, though I'm sure that she will understand if you wait until your shift in the store is done."

I grunted quietly. "Glad you're confident in that. I'm expecting a full inbox by the time I wake up, nevermind after the shift is done with."

She sighed again, strong fingers playing with the hair in front of my face. "I was attempting to be optimistic for your sake, Reyja'krem."

I mimed a quiet gasp. "Optimism? Pillar of Heart, how could you do such a thing?"

"I'm sure that you will forgive my transgression." There was a bit of a shift, and I could feel her moving around above me. Clothing rustled for a moment before her hands shifted my hair away, letting me see that she had removed her shirt. There was still a band covering her small breasts, but I was left more or less looking directly at her well defined stomach.

Her abs flexed slightly before she spoke, "Perhaps I am already forgiven?"

A long exhale preceded me moving enough that I could press my mouth against her skin. "What do you think?"

"I think that my alien lover appreciates the same things my own people look for." Finger tips brushed through my goatee before reaching my cheek. "And that he has a very low standard for letting me get away with things that I have said."

I kissed her stomach again. "Are you complaining?"

"Of course not, merely commenting." Rane covered a yawn, the motion making her flex once again and letting me admire her body a bit more. "Have you had time to read anything that Aethyta sent about Voya's people?"

"Flicked through it before you got back." One of my shoulders twitched as I fought not to yawn as well. "Didn't make it far with the migraine and general exhaustion, there's a lot to go through."

Scooting downwards a bit, I rolled onto my back and re-situated my head in her lap as she pulled my hair back and out of my face. "Not much to say right now. Grouped up after the Geth Rebellions, tried to start their own nation. Their leaders got in a tiff with what was left of the Quarian military that lead to the Migrant Fleet wanting nothing to do with them. No navy, pitiful army, got hammered by the Patriarch."

My jaw popped as I couldn't hold the yawn back anymore. "Didn't get very far past that. They've got better immune systems than their cousins, hate being compared to said cousins... really all I've got right now."

Rane let out a quiet hum. "I can read it while you sleep, if you like."

"Rane, I'm not going to make you do my work."

A hand rolled down through my hair before covering my eyes. "Consider it an offer from the woman you're sleeping with, not from a lowborn to a highborn."

I sucked in a long breath before exhaling heavily. "All right. Highlights on things we shouldn't say around Voya should be what we hit first. I can read the rest of their history on my own later."

"You really do enjoy learning about history, don't you?" Her hands slid off of my face and down to my neck, pressing against my skin before actually slipping under my shirt. "You never seemed to focus on it until Erana found her own interest."

I hadn't? I'd always adored knowing things and historical research went hand in hand with that. "Didn't I?"

"Not that I noticed. Did that rekindle something from your past?"

My eyes closed again as she began slowly massaging me. "Not that I've noticed. Why?"

There was a shrug in her words. "Merely curious if anything beyond your technical skills has come back."

In order for it to come back, it would have had to have been gone in the first place. Not that I could tell.. wait. "Technical skills?"

Her motions on my chest paused. "What about them?"

My right eye flicked open as I stared up at her, her head tilted into polite confusion."What do you mean by them coming back?"

"I would think it obvious, Reyja'krem." A hand slipped free to gesture to where my armor was sitting at the foot of the bed. "You are quite the prodigious armor-smith, and what you did with your old exosuit was incredible to watch. Trena herself told me that she'd never seen anyone pick things up so quickly, even when she was with the Eclipse. You must have been highly in demand before your attack."

I had to force my eyelid shut, trying to keep my breathing even as my mind whirled.

How could I have never thought about it? How in Athame's fucking name did I not worry about that? Was I really just _that_ oblivious? Or proud?

I've been in this galaxy for less than two years and I'd put together a suit of power armor from an old construction exosuit. Fuck. I'd done that when I'd been here for less than six _months._ Trena hadn't even helped all that much. Beyond that I'd become exceedingly adept at working with armor and guns, something that I'd _never fucking done before_. I mean sure, I'd always prided myself on my ability to learn things quite rapidly but that didn't mean being able to learn things _that_ bloody fast.

I'd been a coding monkey in my past life, not a gun nut. But my ability to mess with code was mediocre compared to even Trena, forget someone at Rane's level. Everything that I'd done since I'd gotten here had been more aimed at the more physical side of engineering. Which I'd never really been terribly interested, or skilled, in. Certainly not to the point of accomplishing anything close to the things I'd done.

But I'd just as obviously succeeded wildly at it... so how the fuck had it happened?

Just what the fuck had the Matriarch done to me when I'd been unconscious in that Illium apartment?

"Cieran?"

Maybe it was because I still didn't like to think about what had happened to me, even this long after it had happened. Fuck. Now it felt like I didn't have a choice but to think about it. The information from Trena and Aethyta about the others who'd ended up dead before I'd even come onto the scene had been worrying, but I'd been able to push it to the back of my mind. But now there was the news that the Nightwind were apparently the Matriarch's personal hit teams, which was fucking terrifying and not something I could avoid thinking about.

And a small comment from Rane had thrown yet another worry into the Athame damned mix.

My head thudded into the bed as my lover moved, her legs pulling out from beneath me as she spun herself around. All of her eyes were drawn with concern as she shifted above me. "Cieran!"

Half closing my eyes, I snapped back to reality as I realized that I was close to hyperventilating. Which probably explained why Rane looked like she was on the verge of freaking out.

Forcing myself to take a very deep breath, I closed my eyes and let out a long exhale. "I'm... all right."

"No you aren't." A warm palm came to rest on my cheek, "Pillars. I shouldn't have said anything about the Matri... that person, and what she did."

"No, it's all right." Another long exhale let me turn my face into her hand, letting her touch calm me down. "I need to stop not thinking about it."

Her fingers cupped my face and shifted it so that she could lean down and press her lips against mine for a moment. "Reyja'krem, you were... Pillars. Maybe it's best if you don't? At least, until the side-effects have lowered to where you can speak with a mind healer?"

"That's going to take years." I pointed out quietly. "I don't think the Matriarch is going to give us that time."

"She thinks you're dead, so far as we know." Rane countered, and there was actual heat in her voice. That was more than enough for me to open my eyes and stare at the normally subservient lowborn as she growled at me. "You don't need to torture yourself trying to remember what she did or who you were. You're Cieran Kean. Reyja'krem. Whatever happened in your past is in the past. Just... keep being who you are now."

It was my turn to reach up, the backs of my fingers brushing over her cheek and the slim cartilage bands near her mouth. "Where did that come from?"

Her skin flushed in embarrassment. "I... I don't kn... I'm so-"

Cupping her cheek I pulled it to her right to expose the left side of her neck before leaning up and biting her skin. The lowborn let out a sound that was somewhere between pleasure and stunned disbelief as I nipped at her weak side.

"Reyja... Cieran.. what?" It was her turn to nearly start hyperventilating, and it was painfully clear that she had no idea what to do. "I don't..."

There was a quiet gasp as I let go, pulling back slightly. "Rane. Only order I'm giving you today. You don't want me to think about it? I don't want you to think right now either."

She remained frozen as I tilted my head left, exposing my right side to her. I could hear her swallow before she managed to find her words, "Cieran. I don't know if... this is more than being too bold and speaking my mind."

Sliding the hand that had remained on her cheek down to her neck, I took it in a gentle grip. "Rane'li. Your Reyja'krem told you to stop thinking."

"My Reyja'krem..." The words were little more than stunned mumble. I had intended to slowly pull her down to encourage her, but apparently those words had been enough. A low groan escaped my mouth when she dropped her head, lips and teeth finding my skin as her body pressed against mine.

What followed was different, but no less fun for that. It wasn't anything like the rough affairs that Nynsi had preferred when she had 'won', but I honestly found myself enjoying it far more. Rane was very much unused to being the lead, leading to pauses and quiet laughter from both of us as she worked through what she wanted to happen.

The aftermath found me falling asleep while Rane quietly read through Aethyta's files on a tablet, one of her hands absently playing with my hair while one of mine was wrapped around her bare waist.

I didn't think that I'd be able to leave the Matriarch problem alone, not entirely anyway. But I didn't think that Rane was wrong either. Whatever had happened to me had happened. At the end of the day, I still seemed to be me, and that was the important thing.

While the sleep, and especially what happened before that, was amazing, having to wake up was an intolerable affair. Rane was apologetic as she shook me awake, leaving me to shower while she headed into the kitchen to prepare a simple breakfast for the both of us. Downing both the food and the tea once I was clean, and pushing aside my jealously as an exhausted Illyan shuffled into her own room to pass out, I headed down to the store and prepared to open the damned place.

My first shift wasn't what I would call enjoyable.

Opening the front door and turning the signs on was all it took for people to start wandering in. Unfortunately most of them weren't exactly the kind of people who could even come close to affording anything that we sold, which lead to conversations that I could best describe as annoying. I mean, seriously, what was so hard to understand about 'no-haggling'. We only had five signs proclaiming our policy in no fewer than six languages.

Things got a little better once the Talons and White Tigers got word that we were open. Just by being around they cleared out most of the rabble, and I gave two of them a discount for hauling off a human who'd actually tried to steal one of the disabled display weapons. Not that he'd gotten very far given that the thing was bolted in place, but I appreciated the fact that I hadn't had to leave the cage to throw him out myself.

Apart from the two local gangs, who mostly picked out pistols and ammo blocks, a few freelancers did drift in and out as well. They tended to buy a bit heavier of equipment although most of them kept their purchases to one or two items. The big spenders was the Eclipse squad that showed up about an hour before my time was up, a veritable posse of Asari that swarmed in and barely let me get a word in edgewise as they bounced around at the prospect of buying Illium built weaponry. They ended up leaving with half a dozen Disciples, ten Acolytes, seven Watchers, and nearly a fifth of the upgraded tech mines we had in stock.

I was more than happy to turn the store over to Rane when the next shift rolled around, giving her a quick kiss before she pulled her helmet on and headed down to the first floor.

Giving Voya a half wave as she headed out to take her spot on the patio, I eventually managed to divest myself of my armor and collapse on the couch. I contemplated going through the Asari government photos that Aethyta had indeed sent before deciding that there were more interesting things that I could be doing.

I was still there reading about three hours later when Illyan finally crawled her blue ass out of bed, shuffling out of her room and into the hallway.

"Boss." Her massive arms rose above her head as she stretched and yawned. "Still awake?"

"Morning Illyan." I held up the tablet in my hands. "Going over what Aethyta sent on Voya's people."

"Fun." She mumbled, shuffling into the kitchen. Things began to clang as she started working on making her own food. "Anything interesting?"

"Rane highlighted a few things." One of my shoulders twitched as my head did the same in the tiniest of shrugs. "You want to piss her off compare her to a flotilla pilgrim. Or insinuate that she's fragile or can't take care of herself."

There was another massive yawn as she poked at our tea brewer. "Really boss? Had no idea."

"They also hate being stuck in their suits because it makes them look like they're from the flotilla," I continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Though having been stuck in my armor for eight hours today I can't blame them for that. When we get the chance I want to get a door installed on the first floor stairway. That way we can pressurize the top two and at least let her get by with a breathing mask instead of a full helmet."

The Asari groaned. "That's going to be a huge pain in the ass boss. Aren't we going to rip open that trapdoor on the store's floor too?"

"Rane and I will take turns working on that. You get the pressure door."

"What about Voya? She's not taking a shift in the store is she?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Of course she is. With her winning personality and goddess given sales talent we'll be sold out by the time her shift is over."

Illyan glared at me as she poured herself some tea.

"You started it." I countered, my head shaking. "We'll be closed that shift, she'll be working on the mechs. Soon as she gets them done we can set one up on the patio and the other in the store and not have to bother having someone on guard duty."

"Athame's ass... that will be a good day." She slurped from her cup, her eyes practically rolling back in pleasure. "We get that time to ourselves?"

"If you mean we get to work on our own gear, yes. No sneaking off to Trisren's place for trysts with her people." The big Asari gave me a pathetically sad look that made me groan. "Don't give me that, you aren't young and adorable like your sister. There will be time for that later, once I'm sure that stun grenades won't knock us all out in the next fight."

"I'm plenty young, but I prefer sexy to adorable." There was another sip from her drink. "Anything interesting on the Quarians?"

I shrugged in the Asari way again. "A whole lot of fucked up political shit during the lead up to the geth rebellions, during the war, after the war... from an outsider's perspective apparently the Ascendency was a pretty fucked up place in its last years."

A blue hand waved as she set her up aside, her other hand working to throw a sandwhich together. "Way before me boss, don't remember my shit mother saying anything about that war either."

"Long story short, Geth labor had a lot of Quarians without anything to do jobs-wise, especially when they kept upgrading the things to make them smarter. Mostly on Rannoch and their inner colonies, outer colonies started passing laws to stop corporations from bringing in Geth at all." Glancing down, I flicked through the page I'd left it on. "Which went over about as well as you'd expect. If the Geth hadn't rebelled when they did there probably would have been a civil war anyway. Most of the Terminus Quarians are descendent from the anti-establishment colonists."

"They all as hard as her?"

Another few flicks. "If you define 'hard' by them living in the Terminus for three centuries, then yeah. Safe to assume that. Always dangerous to paint individuals by their species but most are apparently pretty standoffish at best to anyone that they don't know."

Which again, was hard to blame them for. Being as technically minded as their cousins but possessing more robust health made them prime slave material in a lot of people's eyes. Especially the Blood Pack who were always hurting for engineers and mechanics to keep their equipment running.

She grunted, inspecting her food before taking a small bite . "Didn't they try to setup their own nation or something?"

"Think so, but I'm not that far yet."

"Could always ask Voya."

I shrugged once again, tossing the tablet onto an end table before grabbing my cane. "Was planning on it once you woke up. She was going to look into that stun grenade thing for us as well."

Illyan winced slightly. "Sorry about not being here for that boss. And for not bringing better news back with us."

My eyebrows rose as I levered myself up to my feet. "You wanted to be laying stunned on the floor, watching as three different Voyas puked?"

Her lips curled. "Well when you put it like that, not nearly as sorry."

Snorting, I gave her a rude gesture with my free hand that merely made her roll her eyes. Assured that our relationship was the same as it ever was, I made my way down the stairs and over towards the closed patio door.

Rapping my cane against the metal, I rose my voice to make sure that she could hear me. "Voya. Mind talking?"

The door hissed as it slid open, revealing the Quarian sitting calmly in the single chair with her sniper rifle resting in her lap. Stepping outside without my armor wasn't something that I really wanted to do, but neither did I want to go through the long process of putting it all back on. Limping onto the patio proper, I ended up seated on the floor with my back to the wall while Voya's eyes watched me.

"Quiet so far?"

Her left shoulder twitched before her omni-tool spun up. _Nothing interesting so far._

I grunted. "You able to look into the armor upgrades?"

_Designs are already loaded into my workbench's tablet, and Illyan's._ She dipped her helmet towards me. _Was looking into ones more specific for your and Rane's armor when you came out here. Have a few to pick from, was looking for any specific to your species._

"Thanks. One thing out of the way." Settling my head back against the cold wall, I tried not to yawn. "Illyan's going to look into sealing up our top two floors air-wise."

Long fingers stilled for a moment. _Thank you._

I shrugged. "Can't imagine being stuck in that helmet is fun. Wearing mine for eight hours today was bad enough."

_It isn't._ Glowing eyes seemed to cringe. _Though I'm not looking forwards to my system adjusting to having three aliens around. I'm running a low fever as it is._

"Won't be fun," I agreed, "But I'd think it would be worth it."

_Of course it will be. Am I helping with that or am I still working on those mechs?_

"Mech duty for now." It didn't like to outline what I wanted to have done in the next few days, though thankfully we weren't in a massive rush anymore. She nodded as I spoke, typing out a couple of ideas she had about upgrading the pair of security bots. A few them definitely had merit, and she agreed to talk with Rane once the Batarian was done with her shift in the shop about a few coding changes that would be needed.

With that out of the way, I broached the other subject I wanted to talk with her about. Her silver eyes had rolled but she'd at least answered what few questions that I'd had. For the most part Aethtya's intelligence packets hadn't been far off, though they may have understated just how much Voya and her people didn't care for their fleet bound cousins.

'Inbred coddled princesses' was an exact quote used at one point in our conversation, and I made a mental note to never reveal that Tali had been one of my favorite characters. Not that I ever expected that to come up, but still a good thing to remember.

After our conversation wrapped up, I slipped back upstairs and made myself a small dinner. Illyan was still lounging around, and the pair of us amused ourselves by watching the latest clawball games from Illium. Once my food was gone and the game was over, I retreated to bed while she headed downstairs to start tinkering with things.

And that more or less became our lives over the next two weeks. Customers came and went, sales were made, and pretty much everyone was pretty content with what they bought. Locals remained annoyed that what we had was way the fuck out of their price ranges, but between the Talons and the White Tigers routinely stopping by no one was stupid enough to try and mob the store.

The Eclipse becoming regulars also helped with the intimidation factor.

Voya and Rane managed to get the two LOKI mechs up and running on day three, equipping them both with Turian built hand cannons rather than the terrible sub-machine guns that they naturally came equipped with. The one that was now standing on the patio also got some omni-tech panels from our stocks, the gleaming blue armor making its spindly frame look a lot more impressive. Its companion was unfortunately glitchier, and spent as much time in pieces as it did watching over the store as we tried to work out what the fuck was wrong with it.

While they had taken care of that, Illyan had dragged me out parts shopping to get what we needed to start making the store air-tight and pressurized. My initial goal of making the top two floors suitable was degraded to just the third when it became clear that our current budget was already stretching what Aethtya could explain away. Regardless, Voya had been the happiest I'd ever seen her when she was able to yank her helmet off in the kitchen. She'd started coughing an hour or so later, and was still miserable three days later even if the worst of it seemed to be behind her.

Things might have become relatively settled for us and the other residents of the Fumi district, but Trisren and the Silver Blades became busy as hell. The Talons and their allies had massively stepped up their raids and attacks on the True Sons in the wake of the latter's attack, eventually leading to an all out war that was mostly being fought over the Tuhi district's lower reaches.

A war that the Silver Blades were in the thick of.

Which was why fifteen days after we opened found the thin Asari draped across our couch, an empty beer bottle in her hand as she ranted about their latest mission.

"-and then they tried to flank us through the restaurant!" Her head shook in disbelief. "Goddess, it was as if they expected the booths to be bullet proof. The twins must have killed twenty of them in as many seconds."

I snorted from where I was leaning against the wall, sipping far more slowly from my own drink. "That it for them in Tuhi then?"

"Almost." Blue lips twisted into a scowl. "There's an old Brotherhood recruiting center that they've turned into a fortress, six levels down. Red wants to take it and make it the Talons' new headquarters."

Rane, who had been listening from the kitchen, spoke up. "The word fortress gives me pause."

"Gives me more than that." Trisren grumbled. "Fec and Herani scouted it. It's attached to one of the two hangers that they own on station, which means they can shuttle reinforcements in from their main base in Kenzo."

My head shook. "Athame's ass. How many ways in?"

"Three. All fortified from here to Thessia itself. Rane, another drink?"

The lowborn nodded, heading over to the fridge while I spoke. "I'm guessing that means Red is going to keep annoying me about taking a support contract?"

If anything Trisren looked even more annoyed at that. "Expect her to stop by tomorrow to ask about exactly that. How's the leg?"

I glanced at it before tapping my left foot with my cane. "It's still attached. Been doing stretches as best I can in here. Should hold up if we're sticking with just defending ourselves."

The Asari held up a hand to deftly catch the dark bottle that my lover threw her way. "I'm still not happy about having you four out there Kie, but Red's insisting. Turning her down wouldn't exactly look good, not with Bern still suspicious of you lot. Approval of what you did when the Sons attacked here only went so far apparently."

Rane's lips thinned. "And I'm sure discovering that I am Batarian did not help."

"He cares about Omega's people, so long as those people aren't members of your species." If anything her scowl grew worse. "It's beyond annoying. One moment he's a paragon of Athame herself and worthy of being a Justicar, the next I want to let Dorvahn and the twins cut him apart for some shit he's said."

There was a pop as she ripped the top off of her drink and took a quick pull. "Enough on him. I want an honest, unbiased answer from you Kie. You think you're healthy enough to do this?"

I blew out a slow breath. "I still can't sprint, not for more than a few moments anyway. If the Talons want us in the backfield putting armor plates back together and fixing shot-up guns, we can do that. If Red wants us any closer to the front-lines I'm going to shoot her down."

Tris glanced over to Rane. "You agree?"

The lowborn bit her lip for a moment, all four eyes narrowing in thought before she gave a slow nod. "I think it would be better if we could turn her down, but if you think that would raise suspicions with the Tigers then maybe we can limit our involvement."

Our nominal commander grunted, taking another sip from her drink before she spoke again. "All right. Make as much money from her as you can, and make damned sure that she knows you don't want to have bullets heading your way."

I nodded slowly. "Understood boss."

"Call me the second her scaled ass is out the door." She let out a long exhale, staring into her drink before seeming to shake everything off. "What about that slaver that you're stalking?"

It was my turn to grimace, but I waved for Rane to speak.

"He's keeping well in stock according to his extranet page." Her head shook irritably. "I was able to co-opt a few of the public cameras in the market, they usually use them to transmit how busy it is or when a large shipment comes in. So far they haven't seen him exit his building. At all."

"How long you had those cameras on him?"

"Five days now. Apparently he pays to have his food delivered. I'm trying to see if the station has any scans of his place to look for alternative entrances but I haven't found anything."

Tris grunted. "Aria is probably the only one with that kind of information. I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to go to her."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not."

"Good. Keep me updated on that too." Her chest heaved as she let out a long breath. "I'll have Dorvahn come by tomorrow to see how your meeting went. Thanks for the beers."

My head tilted politely. "No problem Tris."

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Hey Erana. How is life?_

_User 2: Cieran! I never hear from you anymore._

_User 1: Because your sister is always taking over the secure line to talk with you._

_User 2: Goddess, I know. Can't you, I don't know, tie her up or something?_

_User1: That would give her ideas._

_User 2: Ugh! She's so..so..overprotective. I'm getting by just fine, you can tell her she doesn't have to message me all the time. I'd like to talk to you and Rane as well._

_User 1: Erana, she's your sister. You want to bitch her out, go for it._

_User 1: You start at the bar yet?_

_User 2: I did. Matriarch Aethyta is... surprisingly fun for her age. Maybe a bit intense though._

_User 1: Intense, sure. Fun? Seriously?_

_User 2: I can't have fun watching her bounce drunks out the door? And I thought Miss T'laria's mouth was bad, the things she says..._

_User 1: Athame's ass, please don't repeat them to your sister. Wait. Save them for when she annoys you, and then you can give her a heart attack._

_User 2: Will do sir. :)_

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 9: The Negotiations** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just got back from seeing Star Wars and am kind of jittery. Can't even properly... yeah. Here's the next chapter lol, I think it came out pretty good.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	14. Act 1: The Negotiations

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Negotiations**

Nyreen Kandros casually leaned onto one of the display cases in the store, her hood twisting as she examined the sniper rifle contained inside. "You didn't have to close the place just to talk with me."

I shrugged minutely, not bothering to move from where my back was resting against the cashier's cage. "Third is our slowest shift, not really losing much."

Her mandibles might have quivered slightly, though the angle made it hard to tell. "And you don't want me poking around upstairs."

That drew another Asari shrug from me. "Would you let me poke around your place?"

"Point accepted." A clawed hand rose, palm up. "No desire to use your patio?"

"Most of my customers still think I'm a Batarian, which means I'm stuck wearing a helmet whenever I go out there." One of my hands tapped my armored chest. "Getting in and out of this crap all the time is annoying enough, I'll take a petty excuse to talk with you down here with the rest of it off."

"I almost wish that we were friendly enough to talk about why you chose to conceal yourself as a Batarian." She sounded honestly amused. "Perhaps someday we might be."

"Doubtful." I kept my tone light enough to not offer insult, but honestly I had absolutely no desire to get wrapped up in her crusade to liberate Omega. Or franchise its citizens, or whatever her long-term goal actually was. My life was complicated enough without adding that kind of thing to my plate. "If we were drinking I'd be all right with spending more time talking about nothing, but since we aren't you mind if we skip ahead to why you're here?"

The hood rippled as she nodded slightly. "Hiring you and your people to maintain a field engineering post during our attack on the True Son's base in Tuhi. You are willing to do so?"

"Not really." I admitted, the cage rattling as I leaned my head back. "We're arms dealers, not mercenaries."

Nyreen turned towards me slightly, her voice lowering as she spoke. "Everyone on this station is a mercenary, MacKeanen. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is the truth that we live with right now. Everyone has been forced to fight for one cause or another. Some for credits, others for causes, more because they're forced to."

She pushed away from the case, still talking. "The first, I'm sure, holds no interest. I doubt a few thousand more would interest you one way or the other. Your masters, whoever they are, must pay you very well to willingly come to Omega."

They certainly did. "No comment."

Her mandibles might have quivered slightly in amusement. "I'm still not sure what you and Trisren's end game is, but whatever your cause might be likely does not leave you room for another. And I would not forsake my own principles to force you to join us."

I grunted quietly. "But there's forms of payment beyond credits, and you already know what I want."

"For Bern to leave you be."

My head dipped into a tight nod. "His people tried to follow Rane'li when she and another employee made a supply run to the Blades."

This time there was something like an annoyed growl from the gang leader. "You are sure?"

I nodded again. "Confirm with Trisren if you want, she had two of her people intercept them before they could try anything."

"You assumed that they were going to."

It was my turn to let out a low, vibrating sound. "I don't appreciate my people being _stalked_ Red. And I've read the White Tiger's extranet page. If there are any anti-Batarian slurs that those people don't know I'd be surprised. I honestly have no idea why you bothered allying yourself with them."

"One can't throw away a gun simply because it has a few blemishes." Her hands fell to her hips as she shook her head. "Not on Omega at least. Bern is largely a good man, and his packs do a lot of good in their territory."

"So long as you aren't Batarian." I countered. "They've kept their mouths shut when they shop but I don't know how long that's going to last. Sooner or later one of them is going to snap at me for speaking their language, or Rane'li because of what she is."

"I'm not blind to the potential problems that you killing them would cause." I didn't know whether to feel flattered or worried that Nyreen didn't doubt who'd win that particular shootout. There was a somewhat ragged breath before she resumed speaking. "Twenty thousand for your people's assistance, and I'll get Bern to leave all four of you be. As much as I would like to limit his racism further, that's beyond me right now."

"Which I understand. I'm not looking to start a crusade or something, I'd just rather he and I be separated by a few light years."

Her mandibles shifted again, and some of the severity left her voice. "I don't know about light years, but I might be able to talk him into swapping some territory to move him away from this place."

I grunted before nodding. "That sounds workable to me. Even split between the four of us, we'll all be armed but if anyone tries to order us into the fight..."

"None of my people will be that stupid." She assured me. "And I'll make sure that you are assigned to an all Talon group. We'll need tech mine reloads, armor repairs, and weapon tune ups, that kind of thing."

That sounded simple enough. Not that I'd ever run anything like that before, but she didn't need to know that. Honestly I was pretty sure that the True Sons were more or less done for in this part of the station even without the Talons taking out their base, and if we weren't exactly military-level efficient I couldn't imagine it seriously affecting the battle. And besides, so long as the bloody White Tigers stopped sneering at me and Rane whenever they stopped by the store, a few hours fixing things didn't seem like that big of a deal.

"Assuming the Tigers actually do shape up after this, I'll put in a discount for uniformed Talons." I waved a hand around the store. "To make up for the credits."

"It would have to be quite a discount to cover twenty thousand, even with the prices you charge."

"That's the literal price of quality Red. Twenty percent, same as the Eclipse."

Her head dipped politely. "More than fair of you. Conditional on them actually leaving your people alone?"

I took a few moments to mull it over before responding. "Conditional on you getting them to move away. If they show up as customers and do something stupid that's hardly your fault."

"My thanks." Another head bob was followed by her glancing around the store again. "One of my lieutenants will be in touch tomorrow. We currently have their location encircled but I am not planning on beginning the attack for a few days yet."

My face pulled into a frown. "No offense Red, but that doesn't exactly sound smart. They'll have plenty of time to fort up."

"And also plenty of time to lose people to desertion or other gangs poaching their members." She pointed out. "While I detest their message and methods, many of their people are young and simply made a mistake. They deserve some time to contemplate if they truly want to remain."

Oh, right. "I hear you."

We exchanged a few more meaningless pleasantries after that, mostly her assuring me that everything that her people had bought was still functional and that the store was apparently becoming a go-to location for Talons to buy their equipment. I supposed that was a good thing, given that it helped insure she and they would have a vested interest in keeping us all alive. On the same token though, it was weird to be selling weaponry to gangsters, even nominally good ones like the Talons.

Pushing that aside, I bid Nyreen farewell and waited for the door to lock before sighing and raising my voice. "Thoughts?"

"You're a terrible negotiator boss." Illyan called down the stairs, the steps creaking as she trotted down them a few moments later. "Could have at least gotten us thirty or forty."

"The money wasn't the point." Rane corrected her as she followed the Asari down. "And Red knew as much before she even arrived. Desiring a higher price would have been nothing but greed and would have likely cost us much of her goodwill. The Reyja'krem agreed, hence why he didn't make such an attempt."

I grunted as I worked at the cage's latch, opening the door before joining the two females. "I meant thoughts on what we're doing here. And whether or not she can actually get the Tigers to stop shadowing us."

"Oh. Should have been more specific boss." The big Asari made a thoughtful clicking sound with her tongue before shrugging, "We're going to be well behind the Talon's lines, so much as you can say that on Omega. And I guess we're being paid well by this place's standards, not seeing any real problem with playing mercs for a day."

Nodding, I glanced over at my lover.

The lowborn shrugged in much the same way as our companion. "Even if the True Sons find a way to approach us, our equipment is far superior to theirs. I cannot admit to being enthusiastic about the plan, but if it means that we won't have to deal with Bern or his people it is likely a worthwhile endeavor."

"Assuming that Bern agrees."

"Assuming that." Rane agreed. "If he doesn't, things could become problematic."

Illyan grunted as her shoulder hit the wall, a leg crossing the other as she leaned against it. "You think he suspects that we aren't actually arms dealers?"

"I know he does, the question is what he thinks we are." I brought a hand up to rub tiredly at my face. "If he convinces himself we're an SIU front we could be in trouble. Smart or not, he hates Batarians enough that he might try something stupid."

"Like attacking us." The Asari groaned.

"Like attacking us." Shifting my gaze, I caught Rane's upper eyes with mine. "Rane, you're off supply runs to Tris until he's handled."

Her copper toned lips thinned slightly. "Confining me to our building, Reyja'krem?"

I tried not to wince as I nodded. "Just until the fight, I'll be staying in as well. I haven't heard anything from Red or Tris saying that he has a problem with Voya or you, Illyan, so hopefully he won't give either of you any problems."

"If he does try sending people to follow us around again, can we beat them up a bit boss?"

"If you think you can stop Voya from killing them, be my guest. Speaking of, she still sleeping?"

Rane shook her head slightly. "She was making tea before we came down."

That drew a quiet grunt. "Everyone in favor of staying closed for the rest of the shift?"

Unsurprisingly, neither alien female seemed the least bit upset with that particular idea. Killing the lights on the floor, the three of us headed back upstairs. Passing through the heavy door at the third floor entrance as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of crap coming in, Voya glanced up from where she was sipping her tea through a straw in her half-mask.

Illyan promptly began to summarize what had happened as she joined the Quarian on the couch, bringing the flatscreen up on mute before flipping through what channels that Omega offered. While they did that, I headed for the bedroom to get out of my armor and wasn't terribly shocked when Rane trailed after me.

Between the pair of us it didn't take long to get the heavy crap off of me, stacking it roughly on one of the armor racks that we'd managed to squeeze into the bedroom.

"Did I alleviate the insult by pointing out that I'm also going to be stuck inside?" I asked as she handed me my chest plate, letting me hang the thing as I spoke.

Her lower eyes blinked as her head tilted a bit to the left. "You did, although honestly there wasn't much insult to take. I understand that you're protecting both me and the mission, not attempting to shelter me."

I grunted, at least mildly relieved that I hadn't upset her. "What are your plans for the shift?"

Rane's lips twisted slightly in annoyance. "Trying to fix Glitch. Again. There has to be a subroutine that Voya and I haven't found yet because his targeting system reset to the corrupt defaults."

"That crap again?" When she nodded, I could only groan. "Athame's ass, was hoping that we were past that. Maybe you could reset it and install the VI you were making for my armor, whenever Trena gets it here."

"It has to get here first." Her head dipped into polite deliberation as she handed me the forearm plates, letting me resume packing things away. "Until then I think it's best to keep trying to fix it as is."

"Not disagreeing, just offering a thought." Warm fingertips brushed against my cheek, making me smile slightly before accepting the armor's backplate. "How long you think that'll take?"

I caught her biting her lip in thought when I turned back around, "Four hours? I'd rather do the job properly and not have it trying to shoot us when we turn it on."

I snorted. "I'd rather not have either of you shot by our own mech either. Take your time."

"As you say, Reyja'krem." She paused for a moment, handing me the last bits of armor before speaking again. "What are you going to be doing?"

One of my hands waved at my tiny desk. "Have to call Aethyta, she didn't say why. Odds are that she's going to yell at me for putting us into a fight. Once that bit of fun is over with, need to get back to rehabbing and working out."

"Pillars. You're going to spar with Illyan, aren't you?"

"Just today." The idea of the massive Asari hitting me the day before we went to a brawl, planning on actually fighting or not, didn't strike me as a particularly intelligent thing to do. "Just exercising and stretching isn't going to get me fully ready again."

The lowborn nodded slightly, "Just be careful, please. I don't want to come upstairs to find the pair of bleeding on the living room floor."

My skin flushed slightly. "Illyan isn't Trena. And that was one time."

"That it only happened the one time is proof that the Pillars do provide miracles." Her arms crossed defiantly when I tried to give her an arch look. She resumed talking only when I gave her a slightly abashed nod to accept the point. "Speaking of Trena, I don't suppose that you have had more luck than I in getting her to stop asking about our private life?"

"No." I could only groan. "Just try ignoring her, talk like she hasn't said anything. Sometimes that seems to work."

"I'll have to try it." Rane murmured, leaning in so that she could gently press her lips against the left side of my neck. "Will my Reyja'krem be awake in four or five hours?"

"If he isn't he would trust that his lover would wake him up." Reaching back I pulled her around, smiling at the the way her lower eyes lidded as I leaned in to kiss her. I enjoyed the earthy taste of her lips and mouth, with just hints of vanilla flavor from the Chehala leaves that she smoked, before regretfully pulling back. "Agreed?"

"Agreed." Her breath was warm, as was the hand she brought up to touch mine for a long moment before sighing and stepping away. "I will keep you updated on our progress with Glitch. If Dorvahn stops by, should I send him here?"

I mulled it over for a moment, "Yeah. If I'm still stuck on the call make sure Illyan is the one who does it."

"Of course." She gave me a small smile and a formally polite nod before slipping out of the room.

Which left me alone to stare at the desk, sighing as I forced my legs to shuffle the rest of me in its direction.

A few moments later had the console open, my fingers striking the glowing keyboard as I jumped through the dozen and a half hoops required to establish the secure line from this particular computer to the one built into my boss's desk back on Illium. After re-verifying my password for the third time, the screen finally flickered to a bar displaying the connection status. It cut out a moment later to let me see Aethyta lounging in her chair, the familiar backdrop of Nos Astra at twilight behind her actually making me miss the fucked up place.

"Aethyta."

" _Kid."_ There was a dull clatter as she tossed a tablet onto her desk, looking as if she was equally as tired as I was. " _I already heard from Tris that you're being dragged into the fighting. Do I want to know why?"_

One of my shoulders twitched as my head dipped that way. "You read my report on the White Tigers?"

Her image gave me a mild glare. " _I've got seventy two reports waiting for me to bloody read them right now kid. You aren't my only agent."_

Rolling my eyes, I proceeded to give her the short version of what was happening. It didn't take long, largely because Liara's father wasn't stupid. She only asked pertinent questions as pertinent times, otherwise letting me get on with the business of telling her what things looked like from my point of view.

"...the deal with Red is simple enough. We help her out here, she works out a trade with the Tiger's Alpha to swap some territory around to get him out of our district entirely." I finished, "Also giving her the same discount as the Eclipse provided that they actually make the deal work."

The old Matriarch grunted, her eyes locked on her own console as she took notes. " _Remind me to throw whoever missed that into the ocean. A local gang with anti-batarian rhetoric is the kind of crap the advanced team should have known, we could have put you up somewhere else."_

"Bit late for that now. Appreciate the sentiment though."

There was another annoyed sound before she sighed. " _You think the Talons will go through with trading territory like that?"_

"I trust that she'll make the effort." I hedged slightly, "Red seems to have a practical head on her shoulders, even if she's a bit of an idealist."

" _Rare combination. Well, if Tris says you're up for it, and you say you're up for it, I'm not going to second guess your plans from here. If they don't stop following you and your girl around, what are you thinking?"_

"That I would really rather that they do stop." A slow exhale escaped my nose. "I don't want to start a fight with another gang, and Red made it clear that she needs Bern and his packs more than she needs us right now."

" _As far as anyone there knows, the Blades are just dedicated customers correct? Athame's ass don't tell me that's already gone to shit."_

_"_ No, that's still fine. He doesn't suspect anything about Tris as far as I know. His focus is entirely on us." I grimaced. "My main worry is that he might think we're some kind of SIU team or being paid by the Hegemony in prelude to a move on the station. If he gets wind of the stuff we're doing to support Voya he might work that into his prejudices and suspicions."

" _If they don't go for the territory exchange, you might have to start making your stalkers vanish until he gets the point."_ Another grimace was my response to that. " _It's Omega kid. Killing is a form of conversation there."_

"I've noticed." Less noticed and more heard. None of us left the store if we could help it, heading out only to run supplies to Trisren or to buy things we needed. But those brief glimpses combined with the gunshots that tended to sound randomly throughout the day gave us a pretty good idea of just what kind of place we were living in.

And this was one of the _better_ districts. I had no desire to head deeper into that station, into the areas where the Blood Pack held court.

Shaking myself a bit, I shifted the topic. "Did Trena recognize anyone from the images you had us going through?"

" _No."_ Aethyta's lips twisted. " _Which means the bitch is probably doing it by proxy. One of her daughters maybe, or someone recruited into the cult that you mentioned."_

So we had absolutely no idea which one of them that it was. Lovely. "Were you able to pull anything else from their omni-tool?"

_"Nothing besides the orders to eliminate you and T'laria, and to make it look like a domestic accident."_ Blue fingers drummed slowly on her desk. " _What we have had more luck is in finding out anyone else that your mystery Matriarch may have affected."_

That made me sit up a bit straighter. "You found someone else?"

" _No. Our searches for any humans with your condition keeps turning up nothing unusual."_ She shook her head slightly. " _But once we stopped being such goddess damned idiots, we might have come up with something. A few old friends are running searches on businesses or similar partnerships limited to one Asari and one human, started or modified to that combination over the least few years."_

I mulled that over for a few moments. "You think she's pairing people she," brings over, "experiments on with other Asari? Like Trena and I?"

" _Given that you were just a test subject, newer ones are probably stuck with her followers."_ Which made sense. It would let her stay more up to date on how they were adjusting to the new universe, as well as making it easier to eliminate them if the whim struck her. " _So far we've turned up a dozen plus on the Citadel alone, I've got a few old friends that I trust looking into their stories to see if there's anything unusual."_

"Most are probably legit." I nodded slowly in thought. "Asari and human romance is hardly uncommon. Which is probably why she picked humans to mess with."

" _I doubt it's her only reason, but it's definitely helping her keep her shit beneath the waves."_ Aethyta let out a long sigh. " _I'll brief you when I know more kid. T'laria should have more on her mission in a few days, probably after your fight is over with."_

"Guessing that's going to be another vidcall?"

" _You, her, Tris, probably a few other groups I've got looking into that crap. You'll all have filters on, keep the cells secure, but some of them have found data that might be related."_ Her head dipped a bit as she shrugged. " _Early indications are that both the Blue Suns and the Hegemony were up to something on Illium in the right timeframe to be involved."_

It was my turn to twist my face into a scowl. "Not exactly fond of the Suns _or_ the SIU. Any chance we could just get rid of both?"

She gave me an arch look. " _Kid, if it's the SIU that means we might have to track down the youngest Balak, take him alive, and drag him back here. If it's the Suns, we'll need someone to break into Vosque's retirement mansion on the far side of the Terminus and do the same. Assuming that they would even be the ones we'd need to capture."_

One of those would be damn near impossible. Trying to do both of them would be... something not worth even thing about. "Right, idiot, sorry."

A hand waved in a forgiving manner. " _Don't worry about it. Keep me updated kid, will give you the frequencies when I have a set time for the briefing."_

"Got it." I flicked off the line as she reached out to do the same.

Just when you think the tide is finished, the water rises a few more bloody feet. My fingers rose to pinch the bridge of my nose as I let out a long breath. It didn't track that the mercenaries would work with the Hegemony in the hotel hit, but that meant that both of the groups of assholes had been doing _something_ on Illium. So if one had been behind the attack, what the fuck had the other been up to?

"Worry about it later Cieran." I muttered to myself, pushing my way out of my chair and up to my feet. "Like when you get more data."

Stretching my neck, and trying not to groan as a few cracks reached my ears, I grabbed my cane from where I'd left it resting against the wall. Thusly armed, I shuffled back out into the hallway and then on into the living room.

"Done with your super-secret call to your boss boss?" Illyan barely even glanced up from where she was laying on the couch, her long frame occupying the entire thing.

"Yes, and super-secret? Have you been watching kids shows or something?"

She stuck her tongue out at me.

I could only roll my eyes, "Athame's tits. You really are more childish than Erana, you know that right?"

This time I got a pair of rude gestures, one from each hand.

"Turn that stupid thing off and help me move the table."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she did at least heave herself up into a seated position before flicking off the game that she'd been watching. "Why we moving the table? I'd figure the couch would be more comfortable."

I blinked, not quite fully processing it right away. "The couch would be... oh shut up and help me move this thing dammit. We need to start sparring again."

"Oh. Yeah, probably a good idea." Not bothering to wait for me she simply leaned out and planted a broad hand beneath the small table, easily heaving the thing upwards as she stood. Meeting my mutters about showing off with chuckles, she moved the short piece of furniture into the kitchen before pushing it up against a wall. It was mostly out of the way, though I could easily imagine myself banging my shin into the stupid thing when I tried to get to the fridge.

Of course, I had bigger, more immediate concerns. Asari shaped concerns.

Illyan cracked her massive knuckles before rolling her neck out, motes of dark light appearing around her arms as she stretched. "You mind if I lead boss?"

"You usually do." Trying to grimace as I settled my weight evenly on both legs, I brought my heavy cane up in a one handed grip like a fencer might. "Remember we don't have a doctor, so try not to break me."

Blue lips pulled back a bit from her teeth. "You want me to take it easy on you? Talk Rane into letting me spend a sleeping shift with the two of you."

"Not happening." I took a half step back as she slowly advanced, massive arms raised in a ready position. "But I might consider giving you some more time to go see the Blades."

"Herani is already seeing someone." One of her arms snapped forwards, a quiet grunt escaping her when my cane snapped to hit her forearm. A quick step back was followed by her shaking the limb out, but she subsided when I wasn't stupid enough to think that she was actually hurt. "Someones actually."

I snorted, shifting my weapon into a more secure two handed grip. "The twins? Seriously?"

"Athame's tits, I barely gave you anything."

She shot forwards before I could reply, throwing three quick punches that I only barely deflected away before following it up with a snap kick at my good shin. I couldn't avoid that one, but I did manage to at least take the hit directly instead of letting her go for my ankle or knee.

Hissing slightly at the stinging pain, I side-stepped another punch before lowering my shoulder and driving inside of her reach. It was her turn to grunt in pain as I slammed first my elbow, and then my body, into her chest and drove her backwards. Knowing the amount of agony that I'd be in if I stayed that close, I snapped the hilt of my cane up towards her chin as I stepped back, forcing her to snap her hands up to save her face instead of leaving them free to grab me.

I resumed speaking once we had a good meter between us again, as if we hadn't just been fighting. "First, you said that she was seeing someone. If they were anyone but Turian, or maybe human, that wouldn't stop you."

"Point." Illyan shook herself out again, the pair of us warily beginning to circle one another in the small space. "And making it clear that there was more than one did the rest?"

"Pretty much." Electing to try and go on the attack, I tried feinting left before lunging with my good leg and striking for her right leg.

She didn't fall for it in the slightest, batting my weapon aside before dropping down into a crouch and shooting forwards in something like a wrestling take-down. This time there wasn't any chance of me getting away as a broad hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me in. I tried to hit the pressure point just under her arm only to be heaved up and over her for my trouble, my back slamming into the floor a moment later.

"Can't feint left boss, not hard to tell that's your bad side." I gasped for air as she lifted her weight off of me, stepping back to give me room to get up. "If you're going to try you got to commit more to sell it."

"Got it." Trying not to groan as I stood back up, I accepted my cane again when she offered it to me. She gave me all of five seconds to get ready before she came at me again, the floor groaning as we began sparring in earnest.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 10: The Assassin** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh...heh..yeah... sorry about this taking so long. Work didn't cooperate as I thought it would around the holidays, leaving me stuck rushing to get a lot down instead of being able to take it easy like I thought I would be able to. Throw in working on a few other personal projects, the constant tug of gaming addictions, and you get a bit of a delay..
> 
> I have set a few New Years resolutions for myself, one of which is finishing this particular story before the year is half out. The others are doing the same for my Bleach story, as well as actually writing a story in my original sci-fi verse. I've been expanding the background on it since I was in grade school... feel like I really should get around to actually writing a full story or two there.
> 
> That update out of the way, this chapter goes into a bit of the why they are becoming involved at all, despite none of them really having honest desire to fight the True Sons (in this circumstance anyway). Given how their plans usually go, I'm pretty sure most of you can guess as to how well their idea of not being involved will be.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	15. Act 1: The Assassin

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Assassin**

The Talon 'Lieutenant' let out a long groan as he heaved yet another case into the battered shuttle. "Are you sure you didn't forget anything?"

"We probably did." I shrugged, largely indifferent to the Turian's complaints. "Hopefully it won't get anyone killed."

Hetherus dropped the box of tech mines into the vehicle before turning to glare at me. It was a rather impressive one, I had to admit. Like most other Turians he was tall, easily a six inches above me even with my armor on. His plates were closer to Saren's than Dorvahn's or the twins, having an almost silvery sheen that nearly covered the white markings around his eyes. "The lives of my comrades isn't something to joke about human."

Another Asari shrug accompanied my words, though it was probably a good thing that my helmet hid the way I rolled my eyes. "Then stop bitching about how much gear we're loading."

His mandibles quivered in irritation, but the armored Turian obligingly resumed loading the shuttle that would carry everything we needed for this particular job. Well, everything except for ourselves. That the ancient vehicle would be carrying tens of thousands of credits worth of supplies was worrisome enough for my sanity, the idea of actually putting any of us into it was well would probably have given me a full on panic attack.

Seriously. I had no idea how the rust covered thing disguising itself as a space-shuttle had managed to get here at all, much less how it would carry everything down to the bottom of the district.

"Voya, you have the list?" Leaning on my cane, I half turned to try and find the Quarian. When I did locate her I could only groan. "You can buy his knives off of him later!"

The petite alien woman didn't bother turning around, instead still pointing irritably at the omni-tool screen she was writing on as she haggled with a Batarian. The objects of her desire were a pair of wickedly curved knives that she apparently had desired the second the guy had shown up.

"I've got it boss." A fully armored Illyan lumbered up on my other side, holding out a tablet for me. "She threw it at me before she ran over to bother him."

"Remind me to include her in our sparring sessions. Entirely against you." I muttered, not really in the mood to be thankful that she'd at least passed her assignment off onto the Asari. "Rane have our own path setup?"

"She's on it, don't worry."

Exhaling heavily, I nodded before finally glancing at the device. "Tech mines loaded. Omnigel canisters loaded. How many pistols did Rane pack?"

"All of the Predators, plus the BSA knock-offs. Slayer mark whatevers."

"Tens." I corrected absently. Definitely not our best gear but it would be better than nothing for any Talons who lost their weapons. And I could always charge Nyreen for the ones we gave out later. "Frag grenades?"

"Right here." The Turian gang member interjected, accepting the final container from a subordinate before carefully setting it into place. "Your tools loaded as well?"

"First things in," Illyan's helmeted head nodded, "While you and the boss were talking about where we'll be setup. Figured it would be better to have the guns on top in case we need them."

Which was a good idea. I think. Fuck, the logistics of packing military supplies definitely was not my strong suit. Something else I apparently had to work on. "Works for me. We good to move Hetherus?"

The Turian still didn't seem exactly thrilled but his dark head dipped in a slight nod. "Give us a few minutes to make sure everything is locked in place, you can start heading to the jump-off point."

Inclining my head, I blew out another breath before stepping back and waving for Illyan to head back to the store. Limping after her with my armor creaking, I could only sigh when Voya practically _bounced_ in our direction. The knives that had been on the Talon's belt were now attached to hers, but that was entirely secondary to the fact that her posture was practically radiating giddiness for the first time since I'd met her.

It was unnatural. Like someone had tilted the galaxy onto its edge when I wasn't looking.

"I feel like we should check to see if that guy is still alive." Illyan muttered, her voice sounding as wary as I suddenly felt.

"Yeah." I could only sigh before shaking my head and raising my voice. "Voya. Do I even want to know what you spent on those?"

Her head cocked to one side before a long finger rose to tap her sternum.

"I know it's your money." It was a guess, but it felt like a good one. "Just making sure you're not spending it all on a pair of knives."

Silver eyes rolled before she brushed past us, both of her hands falling back to practically caress the weapons.

The pair of us could only shake our heads before we followed her into the store proper. Glitch was properly upright and standing guard by the register, his motors humming quietly as his head flicked between the three of us. Thankfully one of the first things Rane and Voya had done was disable his scrambled audio files beyond the ones dedicated to announcing if he was about to start shooting or not.

"Rane, everything locked up there?"

"It is." There was a distinctive clatter as the heavy third floor door shut before feet began to strike the stairs. "Patio is sealed, I pulled Stable in. It's recharging with support subroutines waiting if Glitch detects an intruder."

"Assuming it does." I gave the aptly named mech a dark look before Rane emerged onto our floor. Like the rest of us she was fully armored up, the black plate gleaming slightly in the lighting. "You have our route?"

"Of course," She gave me a formally polite tilt of her head. "Five blocks deeper into our district, the mass transit lifts will take us one level above our destination. I have the rest of our path on my omni-tool from there."

"Good. Double-check on our guns, then let's get this floor locked down and head out."

Suiting my actions to match my words, I reached down to check over my personal arsenal. My Asari made sub-machine gun was properly safetied with an incendiary ammo block loaded, while the Acolyte pistol on the other side of my belt had all of its armor piecing upgrades in place. It still wasn't anything like the massive Carnifex that Illyan was checking over, but it wouldn't break my wrists either.

A final check made sure that my cane had a full set of incinerate tech mines ready to fire, the various switches on the grip locked to make sure I didn't accidentally modify any of the settings while I walked.

"I'm ready to go boss." Illyan finished first, bringing a hand up and sparking a small singularity to life in her broad palm before snuffing it out with a gesture. "New amp is nice, really helps with the control."

"It better, cost as much as Rane and I's new omni-tools put together."

"At least it wasn't a human implant." The Asari shrugged, "Those are even pricier."

I grunted, nodding to accept the point.

"I'm sure that we'll be glad to have your improved singularities." My lover made her final check on her gun but kept the rifle in both hands rather than return it to her back. "Assuming that any True Sons even make it to our position that is."

"More like when they do." Illyan grumbled.

"I'd chastise you for being pessimistic, but that'd be pretty hypocritical of me. Voya, your gun set?"

The Quarian gave me a quick nod as she lowered the gun. Like Rane she kept the expanded sniper rifle secure in her hands, which was smart. Between their guns, Illyan's limited biotics, and my cane it made sure that none of us would have any problems if something untoward happened.

"Good. We should be safe enough until we get closer, but keep your eyes open for anyone staking out the store. I know we haven't seen anyone yet, but I wouldn't put it past the Tigers or the Sons to have someone out there."

Once all three of them nodded, the four of us headed out and locked the door behind us. The first portion of the trip was expectedly uneventful. We didn't spot any sinister figures obviously keeping an eye on us. Well, excepting the other Talons who were hefting guns onto their shoulders or talking amongst themselves as they shuffled in the same direction we were headed.

The only one bold enough to speak to the people wearing armor that cost more than most of them made in a decade was Hetherus, to my complete lack of a surprise. He seemed over his testiness from earlier, though that may have had more to do with Illyan's less than subtle flirting than anything that I did.

Thankfully there was little civilian traffic in the streets. Either they'd gotten advanced warning or simply were familiar enough with the Talons to recognize it when the group was on the move. Regardless, it meant it didn't take us nearly that long to reach the 'heart' of our district, where several massive lifts has been bored into the asteroid that was Omega proper.

Shuffling on board one of them as it arrived, I made sure that my back was against the wall with Rane and Voya on either side of me. Illyan more or less obscured my view of the rest of the confined space, but at least she kept the Talon lieutenant to her left.

A quiet click echoed in my helmet as the door slid shut, the floor jolting as we began a controlled descent.

" _Reyja'krem, your paranoia is showing again."_

I let out a tight exhale and tried to relax a little, glancing at my HUD. She'd brought up a private link between us, but also had wired Voya in. "Thanks Rane."

" _None are needed."_ The lowborn shifted slightly. To a human or Asari it might have looked as if she were merely stretching, but I could pick out the glimpses of amused affection in her posture before she settled back into an at-ease stance. " _But I do not think that the Talons would be so stupid as to betray us in an elevator while we have much larger guns. And a giant Asari."_

An elbow nudged into the left side of my armor.

"And Voya's new toys."

The Quarian turned her helmet up a bit as if mollified at her inclusion.

For her part, Rane sounded mildly confused. " _Her new what?"_

"She bought a pair of knives from a Talon. Apparently very nice ones."

There was a low hum. " _I didn't know that she had skill with knives."_

I was guessing that there was a lot about our resident Quarian that we didn't know yet. But then again we'd really only known her for a few weeks, and she was becoming increasingly tired of having to use her omni-tool to communicate by text. "Well let's hope that she doesn't have to give us a demonstration today."

" _May the Pillars hear your voice today, Reyja'krem."_

Personally I doubted that the Pillars of Khar'shan would listen to a human, inducted into the caste system or not, but I wasn't about to start _that_ discussion right now. Fuck. Maybe Illyan should have thrown a few words out there to Athame on the off chance anyone up there would have listened.

It didn't take that long for the lift to drop us a good fifteen levels, the doorway rattling and clacking as it slid open to reveal one of the lowest levels of the Fumi district. Down here were beneath the cavern that left the upper decks clinging to its sides and providing an incredible view if nothing else. Instead it looked... well, like the interior of a rather run-down and grunge filled space station. Plenty of transients scuttling out of the way as the armored gangsters advanced, with more watching with dead eyes as the small army marched past.

A few were bold enough to try and shout offers, or get close enough to 'accidentally' stumble against someone to try to pick something off of them. They largely subsided when the Talons roughly shoved them away, but they scattered entirely after Hetherus asked for us to take the lead.

"The closest thing to you four that these people have probably ever seen is Aria's commando teams." His mandibles fluttered as he spoke. "Might help us move through this area faster."

I'd grunted and motioned for everyone else to pick up the pace enough for us to get out in front.

For the most part it did the trick, the would-be pickpockets, beggars, and prostitutes stayed well clear as soon as they got good looks at our heavyweight armor. Rane encouraging me to 'walk like Xerol' probably helped even more when it came to the Batarians. Many of them craned their heads to the left in total submission as I moved past, cane striking the floor with every other step.

On some level that still disgusted me... which was an oddly cheerful thing when I realized it. I didn't want to know what kind of person I would be if I considered that kind of behavior to be expected.

" _Shifting into the Fumi district boss."_ Illyan had finally separated herself from the Talon lieutenant when it had become clear that he had to direct his people, joining our private link and helping Rane navigate us through the warrens. " _Should be a main thoroughfare up ahead, we'll want to head left. It'll take us down, things should get a little more cleaned up around there."_

"Let's hope." I muttered, trying not to grimace as a lowborn female whose arms were covered in track marks tried to position herself in an offering manner, only to nearly collapse sideways from the effort. Another Batarian quickly dragged her out of sight, into the darkness of an alley.

I didn't look to see what happened after that. The sounds were enough.

" _Poor souls."_ The Asari murmured, her helmet shaking. " _Athame. This place needs a Justicar. Or ten."_

"Won't hear me argue."

 _"Aria might._ " Rane let out a whistling breath through her teeth. " _But the sentiment is shared. If Xerol hadn't found me..."_

"He did." My voice sharpened. "He did find you and bring you to Illium. Don't worry about what might have been."

There was another whistling sigh that made it clear that she very much was. " _As you say, Reyja'krem."_

I grimaced, but there wasn't much I could say right now. Worse, she had a point. If Xerol hadn't been on the lookout for a freshly exiled tech expert, it could have just as easily been Rane desperately offering herself to a passer-by before someone pulled her into the shadows.

I couldn't say anything, but I could slow my steps until I drew her gaze. My head dipped to the right and down as I turned my helmet towards her, bringing my left hand up to trace the edges of my fingers on her arm for the briefest of moments before curling that hand into a fist and bringing it back against my chest.

Normally I hated declarations of ownership like that, but her back seemed to straighten as she bowed her head to left. " _As you say, my Reyja'krem."_

" _Do I even want to know what that meant?"_ Illyan cut in, her voice amused. " _Wait, if it was about sex then I definitely want to know."_

My cane snapped out to strike her shin plate, her good natured cursing making my lips curl a bit as Rane chuckled and Voya threw her head back to make it clear that she was rolling her eyes.

As Illyan had said, things did get cleaner by Omega's standards as we approached the main 'street'. Instead of desperate and homeless women, the prostitutes took on the looks of weary professionals who knew that we weren't about to let anyone stop. Likewise the experienced thieves took one look at how many guns we had before wisely choosing to simply watch us move past, leaving us clear to make fairly good time.

We started to run into Talon pickets about two blocks out, the armed men and women keeping the local civilians from getting too curious about the fighting that was about to start. Letting us pass with waves and nods, I slowed to let Hetherus take the lead once again. That earned me a slight nod of approval, though I didn't miss the way his eyes strayed towards Illyan as he moved past us.

"Please tell me you aren't going to sleep with him." I muttered across our link. "I don't need a jealous Turian trying to kill you."

" _Goddess no, Trisren's told me about the scratches that Dorvahn leaves. I just like their voices is all."_

Rather hoping that was true, and trying to rid myself of the image of Tris and Dorvahn enjoying themselves, I was grateful when we emerged into a courtyard of sorts.

The battered shuttle that we'd loaded our equipment onto was present, it's engines steaming as they cooled. The Talons unloading the boxes and crates were careful to avoid them, as well as the another equally battered vehicle beside it. A quick glance upwards confirmed that the open air above the circular area continued for several levels, speeders and more shuttles flickering past lights far enough above us to look like stars.

Shaking off the disorientation from that particular sight, I brought my head back down and took a longer stock of the area we were in before finding my target. "Rane, Illyan, you two head over to the shuttle and supervise unloading and setup. Voya? Mind backing me up while I talk with Red?"

She shook her head and shrugged in the Asari way, though her eyes did seem to curl a bit as if she was smiling. I was still trying to be careful about my phrasing with her, making sure to ask rather than order whenever I could remember to do so.

While the others headed off, I led the Quarian towards a raised platform near the area's center. It looked like it might have once been intended to house a garden, but now simply had sheet metal welded over where dirt might have once held living plants.

Standing on top of it and surrounded by portable consoles and floating screens was Nyreen, her hood down for once. Her clawed hands were striking the glowing images as she sent out commands, the wireframe images of the local area updating as more units apparently began to arrive.

"Red." I made a point of stopping at the feet of the short staircase. "Permission to enter the command center?"

Her pale face turned in my direction, mandibles spreading in what I thought was a smile. "Granted MacKeanen."

Limping my way up the stairs, I gave her a polite bow of my head that she reciprocated. "I see you're already setup."

"Mostly." A hand waved at the screens. "The siege proper is another two blocks down, but this location works to command the deployment from."

"The deployment? Not staying for the full fight?"

"I prefer to lead from the front." Shocking. "I'll have a few of my people running communications through here, plus your refurbishment zone. Other side of the yard is being setup for triage. Our medics aren't the best but they're better than none at all."

"Don't get shot. Understood."

Another maybe smile. "With your armor I think you could afford to be shot a few times before you noticed. My people will take care of yours if any injuries occur, don't worry."

"I didn't even consider that they might not." I admitted, my head shaking. "You sure setting up here is a good idea? There's a lot of height to worry about."

"Ten levels of it." From her tone I wasn't the first person to bring that up, much of her mirth fading. "It's the only location nearby where we can bring in shuttles and the heavier aircars until we take the base and its hanger."

"Any chance we could get an armed shuttle in here then? Sit it up high and it could drop down to rake any floor if a sniper pops up."

She eyed me for a long moment. "You've worked Eclipse before, haven't you? That's the first move they like to make."

One of my shoulders twitched. "The True Sons nearly killed me with something similar a few months back, figured it would only be fair to return the favor."

Which I already had, along with another flight of shuttles and gunships that had razed a good portion of the Nos Astran slums to the ground. At least, until we'd been shot down. Not that Nyreen needed to know either of those things.

"Fair enough. Yes, we do have a shuttle drifting on a loop in the traffic stream. My people have the frequency to call them in if we need it. I also have my own sharpshooters checking floor by floor."

"Oh. Sorry, I'm not really used to..."

"Members of a criminal gang being competent enough to not overlook such an obvious problem?"

My cheeks burned a bit, "Pretty much."

Aria's former lover gave a quiet chuckle. "Don't worry about it. The pair of us can guess each others backgrounds once this is done."

Or pretend to guess in my case. "Maybe. I took the liberty of packing a few dozen pistols along with the other gear. Anyone needs a weapon, it's going on your account after."

Her eyes narrowed a bit beneath her plates. "Not demanding it up front?"

"Credit is fine." I cocked my head to the right. "Or isn't it?"

"By Omega's standards you're a veritable spirit of charity." She shook her head slightly. "Not something I'm used to seeing outside of my people."

"If it makes you feel better I am going to insist that you pay for everything I give you today, even if I'm not asking for credits up front." And besides, even if she didn't ever pay me back, the only guns Rane had loaded up were some of the most basic pistols that we carried. Not the worst loss in the world.

Nyreen chuckled quietly. "Strangely enough it does. Best get to your people human, and leave me to mine. I'll find you after the battle for a few words before you head back to your store."

I gave her a formal Batarian nod before stepping away. Voya had remained at the bottom of the stairs, though she now had company. She and an Asari Talon were glaring at one another, both cradling sniper rifles, and apparently sizing one another up in that weird way that women of all species seemed to do.

"Voya." The Quarian turned to regard me, her new 'friend' doing the same. "Come on, we need to get setup."

She nodded, falling into step beside me as I stepped past the Talon and started weaving my way towards the shuttles.

"Making new friends already?"

Glowing eyes narrowed.

"Or just comparing sniper rifles as you glared at one another?"

Something twitched beneath her mask.

"On a scale of one to six, how close am I to being stabbed?"

All of her fingers played out, though she somehow managed to keep a grip on her weapon.

"Good. Be annoyed with me instead of with them. At least you want me alive." The cross look came across even with only her eyes to go off of. "Sorry, would _prefer_ me alive."

Her explosive sigh was loud enough to carry across our helmet link.

Thankfully we made it to where Rane and Illyan were setting everything up without me getting a knife shoved into my side. Or getting shot, though an armored elbow nearly made me drop my cane when she nonchalantly swung her rifle around and managed to catch my wrist.

Muttering a few curses under my breath, the pair of us joined the others in unpacking.

We set up nearest to the street that led towards the True Son base, keeping ourselves more or less tucked into a corner. On the opposite side the Talon medics and kids of various species were setting up triage, the younger ones focusing on stretchers that looked liked they'd just come out of an old war movie.

Beyond that I didn't have much time to pay attention to what everyone else was doing. There was just too much crap to deal with in our own space. Figuring out where to put everything was a huge pain, made worse by the fact that none of us had ever tried to set up a field repair and reload station like this before. Even when Xerol had been alive with his own personal army we'd left this kind of thing for the aftermath. But here..

I'd already lost track of how many Talons, White Tigers, and members of gangs that I didn't even recognize that had marched past.

Nyreen vanished an hour or so later, and the first echoing cracks of gunfire followed her disappearance. The cracks grew into a steady rumble punctuated by explosions, and it didn't take long for the first of the wounded to start trickling back.

We didn't have anything to do with the ones on stretchers, but more than a few of the walking wounded were quickly doused with medigel and bandaged while their cracked armor was run over to us.

"Illyan, more omni-gel." I snapped as my container ran dry, the empty vessel clattering as I threw it aside to join a dozen others.

"One sec... got it, here!" She tossed a Mantis back to its owner, "Ammo block was off-center, fixed it. Getting the omni-gel boss!"

"And another case of tech mines!" Rane shouted after her, fingers deftly pushing the last of the ones on the table beside her into a tech launcher that she passed off to a fellow Batarian who had several layers of gauze covering his broad head.

I couldn't hear the grinding clatter of the boxes sliding on the ground, but Rane and I both quickly found them banging into our shins as the big Asari started shoving them up.

Irritably kicking mine open, I grabbed the first tube before jamming it into the field workbench I was working from. Once I was sure that it was loaded, I grabbed the applier and yanked the trigger as I tried to patch the long gash in the chest plate I was repairing.

The patches tended to be sloppy but workable, but there just wasn't the time for anything better. As soon as I had it in place I tossed the armor to Voya. She promptly flipped it over, tracing the shielding circuits with a long finger before yanking her own tools out to quickly redirect or repair the energy flows. Once that was done with, she'd hand it to one of a dozen 'runners' who would find someone missing that armor piece and hand it over.

Definitely not the best system, but we'd gotten two or three dozen people back into the fight with some kind of armor on their bodies. And that wasn't counting how many spare pistols we'd handed out or how many grenades and tech mines that Rane had provided to Nyreen's combat engineers.

It was surprisingly exhausting work. Not so much physically, but it was stressful as fuck mentally.

Around five hours after the fighting had started, I was handing off a helmet I'd just finished patching when someone started shouting as they pushed their way past the lines that Rane had managed to force the Talons into.

"MacKeanen!" The Batarian female had a nice set of lungs on her, making several of her comrades wince as she shouted again. "Looking for MacKeanen!"

"Here!" I called back, holding up a hand to decline the next bit of armor before the paid urchin could hand it to me.

Sliding through the orderly throng, she nudged the kid aside before giving me a distantly polite bow of her head. "You're requested at the communications post."

Grunting, I gave her a thankful nod before waving for Voya to take my place. It would be a lot slower but hopefully this wouldn't take long. Stepping around my workbench and hopping the makeshift barricade that had been erected to give us space to work, I followed the messenger back through the organized chaos towards the raised platform where I'd spoken with Nyreen a few hours before.

"What's this about?"

Both of her right eyes flicked to me, "Who taught you to speak and walk like that, two eyes?"

My lips thinned a bit. The problem with masquerading as a Batarian was that it only worked when they didn't know my name. Or my fake name as it were. "It's a long story."

She was silent for a few steps, all four eyes narrowed as she turned her head to watch me. "I bet. How fucked up was Illium?"

I stopped moving to stare at her.

"If you're trying to keep a low profile, might want to ditch the accent." Her lips twitched slightly to reveal her teeth. "In both languages."

Really wishing that I could properly face-palm at my own idiocy, I settled for swearing in three different tongues.

There was a snort from my new companion. "Relax Reyja'krem, I'm not here to shout who you are to this rabble. I'm not particularly fond of the Shaaryak family either, my Tarath'shan hated them."

"Reyja'krem?"

She bowed her head politely in the manner of one equal to another. "My lord got himself killed in the war, family blamed me for not keeping his idiot ass alive. So now I'm freelancing here. Bit of a step down but at least I'm not wandering the desert alone anymore."

I let out a long breath and tried to calm down. "Not quite as fucked up as my story but still doesn't sound like fun."

"It wasn't." Breath whistled through her teeth before she slowly resumed walking, making me follow her as we continued towards the makeshift command post. "Get me drunk and I'll tell you the rest, but only if you tell me how in the Pillars' name you managed to get a title. And actually hold yourself like a Highborn."

"I'll consider it." What sucked is that I would have to. Whoever she was, assuming she actually was another Reyja'krem, she definitely knew who I was and who had sponsored me. Thinking like a spy, it also meant that I would have to keep an eye on her if at all possible to make sure that she didn't go running around telling people who I was. "More immediate crap first though. You have word from Red or is something else going on?"

She grunted just loudly enough for me to hear her over the background babble, slowing her pace as we neared the stairs. "Word from the front is that we've broken through two of the main entrances and are advancing into the facility. That's the good news. Bad news it that we lost contact with two of our pickets in the rear lines."

My mouth went a bit dry. "Locals?"

"We sent four to check, no sign of a fight. They reported everything normal and were told to hold that post." Her dark maroon lips thinned. "Five minutes ago they stopped reporting on comms."

Fuck. "What do you want from me?"

"You and your people are in better armor than anyone else here. I'm asking you to head to the second picket line and help fortify it." A hand quickly rose before I could interject, "I'm not throwing you into a sandstorm, I'm taking two full units to the third line where we lost contact. Hopefully it's just old equipment that you can patch up and harangue my people for breaking."

I let out a long exhale. "We aren't here as combatants, I told Red we'd walk if someone tried to order us into a fight."

"I'm not ordering crap." Her right food struck the ground harder than necessary as she stopped, the pair of us more or less alone besides the three techs working the consoles up on the platform. "I'm asking from one Reyja'krem to another. Or are you not the only human to be inducted into the highborn caste?"

One of the muscles in my neck twinged slightly. "Pillar of Kin, the third ring, Line 167 as it pertains to Harath'krem and Reyja'krem."

"Let those who have fallen into disgrace not forget where the came from, and forge new bonds of strength amongst their kin so that all may one day return to the waters of life." Her eyes narrowed again. "Pillar of Strength, second ring, line 143 for the same."

Shit. "A warrior who refuses to stand by his brother's side in their time of need is no warrior."

"Will you?"

My fingers tightened around my cane. Fuck. Red didn't know about my old title, as far as I knew. Which meant this was entirely my own fault for not remembering the tiny fact that I spoke Thessian with the distinctive dialect of someone from Illium, and that my Batarian was likewise affected thanks to Nynsi being the one who'd taught me the language.

Fuck. I'd probably have to go back to English if I actually wanted to disguise who I was, and I hadn't honestly spoken that since I arrived.

"I'm charging Red extra for this." The whistling sigh that came from my mouth wasn't quite what a true Batarian could manage, but it was close enough. "We'll lock our gear down and meet you at the first line."

She gave me a far more polite tilt of her head at that, and I was careful to respond exactly in kind. Turning away, I started to head back to my friends while I tried to work out just what in the Athame's name I was going to tell them.

Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, I was spared that problem when several explosions occurred in sequence not nearly far enough away.

My head whipped around as panicked gunfire promptly followed the concussive blasts, the rapid nature making it clear that whoever was shooting wasn't nearly as calm as they should be.

"That's the same fucking direction." My fellow Reyja'krem, who's name I still didn't know, snarled as she yanked a shotgun from her belt. "Talons! My squads on me! Lakk, keep your people covering the wounded!"

Snapping a hand to my helmet, I restarted our own link. "Everyone, drop your crap and get over to the street we came in on. We've got company."

" _No shit boss,"_ It was easy to see Illyan simply vault her table, " _We'll meet you there."_

The gunfire in the background grew heavier, as if both more guns were firing and they were closer to me than the fighting had originally sounded.

Fucking shit. Why can't crap ever be simple?

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 11: The Majesty**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No communications log today, given that everyone is a bit pre-occupied on Omega.
> 
> So we're near the end of Act 1, which was admittedly a bit of a slow one. Some action here at the end, with a good bit of fighting to take place in the next chapter. It will probably be a longer one, as it will also include the aftermath. Once that's done we'll be onto an interlude, which should be a two part break. Both will be from Trena's point of view, the first will cover the main briefing concerning what everyone has found out about the Blue Suns/True Sons and the Hegemony in relation to what happened on Illium at the end of AR: Terminus. The second will be a more closed session concerning their continuing hunt for the Matriarch and her followers.
> 
> I also have a new poll up on my profile concerning the after-chapter content, if you're interested in that please check it out.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	16. Act 1: The Majesty

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Majesty**

My shields sparked as they bounced metal, the bar on my HUD nudging downwards as I growled and sent a burst into the True Son who'd had the audacity to shoot at me. The human kid, he couldn't have been older than fifteen, tumbled to the ground with a high pitched scream as my own shots tore into his guts.

"Fucking kids again." Illyan muttered from my left, her heavy pistol barking once and sending an equally young Batarian to his death.

I flinched as a much heavier shot smacked into my right shoulder, quickly ducking before the sniper could get a second shot at me. "Voya! Left side!"

The nominally silent Quarian had set up on someone's balcony not that far behind us, the vantage giving her a good line of sight down the street. She clicked her tongue once, the sound followed by her Viper cracking two, then three times before she let out a pair of clicks to let us know it was handled.

"Thanks." Rising up again, I once again rested my submachine-gun on the makeshift barricade and tried to get a better sense of the fight.

After the initial shouts of alarm, I and the others had been swept up in the rush of Talons and freelancers racing to protect the courtyard. The initial setup had been one of three separate picket lines, the closer two of which had increasing levels of makeshift barricades. By the time we'd cleared the closer one we could easily see the fighting at the second, where the True Sons had actually swarmed the guards.

The other Reyja'krem, who's name was apparently Ayle, didn't bother with anything fancy. Instead she and her people had simply charged pell-mell into the brawl, blasting at any True Sons who weren't exchanging punches with the defenders. Not that those kids had lasted much longer, most of them being yanked back before being executed as they retook the barricade. I and the others had arrived around then, having slowed down a bit so that I actually had my friends around me when we got there.

Ayle had wanted to keep up the pressure, to chase the True Sons past the old third line. She'd promptly taken a sniper round to her right arm, swearing violently before ordering her people to hunker down and defend the position. The True Sons hadn't taken long to get themselves sorted out, the usual wave attacks of child soldiers and teenagers being thrown out in front as their older veterans tried to pick us off as we wasted heat and bullets killing the chaff.

"They're slowing down." Rane murmured on my right, her rifle going silent as the opposition pulled back into side streets and buildings. "How many bodies are out there?"

"At least twenty. Not including the ones behind us." My right shoulder rose and fell. "I'm sure they can throw twice that many at us once they get their crap together."

The lowborn let out a low hum that I barely heard. "We have a dozen or so Talons, plus ourselves. Open street like this, they'll need something."

I grunted in agreement. "Whoever organized this isn't stupid, usual tactics not withstanding. They waited until the outer defenses fell and most of Red's people were stuck fighting room to room before they made their move."

"Does it really matter though? I mean, they've lost their base at this point." Illyan didn't quite sound convinced. "Wouldn't it have made more sense to attack earlier?"

"You're assuming that the person in command over there actually cares about keeping the base." Rane's voice hardened slightly. "Evidence indicates that he doesn't, nor does he care about the lives of his troops."

The big Asari was silent for a moment, "You think Krom is leading them?"

"Hard time picturing the True Sons killing off six guards before they could even message for help. Or have anyone here notice that they were dead." I shook my head. "Probably his idea of fun. Anyone want to take bets on whether or not he's already killed any of his own allies?"

"We aren't that stupid, Reyja'krem." Rane shook her head slightly. "If we are correct, and it is Krom..."

"He'll try something smart that also involves a lot of people dying." My shoulder twitched again. "Just a guess. Not like we can do much besides what to see what he tries regardless."

"I hate having to wait." Illyan muttered before she seemed to straighten a bit. "Your new friend is on her way over boss."

Glancing over my shoulder, I grunted at the sight of the Batarian exile. Her right arm was bound to her chest in some kind of armored cast, but she was sensible enough to still be carrying a heavy pistol in her left. She kept herself low enough not be a target to any other True Sons with scoped weapons, eventually tucking herself down behind the barricade as I ducked down as well.

"Reyja'krem." She kept her voice low enough not to carry, which I was thankful for. I wasn't about to cut her into the private channel the four of us used, so speaking quietly was all she could do to not let everyone know that I had the title.

Well, she could have not used it at all, but exile or not she was still a Batarian.

"Reyja'krem." I greeted in turn. "Things should get interesting soon."

All of her dark eyes narrowed. "I know. I need you to-"

"Movement." My lover cut her off, her low voice rising as gunshots began to ring out once again.

Swearing under my breath, I snapped an arm out to drag Ayle back down before she could try to get up. "Find a fucking helmet before someone kills you."

Her lips pulled back as she irritably shoved my hand away, but she turned and barked for a runner. While she did that, I hefted myself back up to get a quick glance at what was happening now.

The kids weren't running out, not yet anyway. But the veterans in the distance were definitely mobile, the few of them with rifles and submachine guns belting out bursts to try and keep the Talons pinned while their companions darted forwards. Irritatingly they were doing it in an intelligent manner, moving from doorways to alleys to side streets and apparently content to linger in cover until their barriers were up again before making their next dash.

"We're focusing left." I made the snap decision, "Ayle, have your people concentrate right."

The other Reyja'krem looked disgruntled that I was giving her orders, but jerked her head in a barely polite nod before raising her voice to shout out orders. She pushed herself back into a crouching run, heading along the barricade as she directed her people's aim.

"Incinerates and overloads?" Rane was already bringing her omni-tool up, her rifle collapsing as she placed it on her back.

"Yes. Illyan, Voya. Pick off anyone that we hit."

There was a tongue click from the Quarian, while Illyan grunted and settled her pistol into both of her large hands.

Shoving my own gun onto my belt, I grabbed my cane from where I'd left it leaning on the barricade. Resting its shaft on the scrap-metal wall, I flicked the control dials to set for contact detonations and straight shots as quickly as I could make my fingers move. While I was doing that, my lover was already set.

A blue disc shot out from the small launcher on her belt, the glowing orb streaking out to explode next to a pair of True Sons thirty or so meters away. Both of them shouted in alarm as the electrical arcs ripped at their shields, though the calls took on a different note moments later. Voya deftly executed one of them, her first shot tearing apart her target's left leg before the second found his heart. For her part Illyan's shots sent sparks off of the second's heavier armor, but at least one round found the Batarian's skin as he yowled in pain before diving back into cover.

I'd paused to observe the results of their shots, making a slight change to one of the dials on my cane's grip as I did. Biting my lip, I tracked my aim right a few degrees before pulling the trigger. Following the curve that I'd set, the orange streak whirled down the street in a slight arc. The first shot was a bit off, the fiery blast blowing out several windows just in front of the alley that the Batarian had taken cover in.

Correcting my aim, I fired again, and this time was rewarded with a flare of light as the mine curved just enough to impact on the far wall of the street. Several someones howled in pain in time with the explosion, and one of the younger True Sons staggered into the open, his entire body burning as he screamed. Illyan deftly put him out of his, and our, misery, but his body continued to burn in the street.

"Work our way back," Suiting actions to words, I shifted my sight to a store that I'd seen at least one True Son run into. "Focus on anyone trying to close in on us, I don't want to know what they're planning."

Rane and I both triggered our tech mines as I finished speaking, lightning and fire blowing out windows and setting fires. This time there wasn't any sounds of pain, not that I could hear over the rising crackle of gunfire anyway. For good measure I sent a sent a second incinerate into the doorway before moving on.

We managed to catch a Turian trying to make a dash a few moments later. My mine hit him while his barriers were still up, the armor and shields holding the fire back. Unfortunately for him the concussion still sent him stumbling, slowing him more than enough for Voya and Illya to bring him down.

After that, things stopped going entirely our way. Voya let out several clicks when a True Son sharpshooter finally found her, forcing her to duck back into the building before I called for her to join us on the line. Shortly afterwords someone apparently directed at least two distant targets to start peppering our location with shots.

It wasn't enough to do much more than annoy us, but even with barriers and armor getting hit in the head and shoulders wasn't exactly fun. Or conductive to maintaining our own aim and concentration.

On our right, the mixed Talons and mercenaries were doing a credible job of focusing their fire and preventing the True Sons from getting anywhere. Fighting was never what you would call boring, it was too tense and terrifying for that, but the next ten minutes were as close as I could get to calling a battle just that. A few of our allies went down with injuries, with one idiot getting his head blown off thanks to his lack of a helmet. In return we killed one or two more True Sons, while the rest stuck to firing wildly from cover and ducking back before we could focus enough firepower to kill them.

"What are they up to back there?" I muttered to myself as I ducked down after yet another pointless exchange, grimacing a bit as I did a check of how many mines my cane had left. Setting it aside, I pulled my gun out again before settling in to wait for my barriers to finish recharging.

"It does seem unusually patient for them." Rane murmured as she likewise ducked down, leaving Voya and Illyan to cover for us. "Trying to flank us?"

"Maybe... dammit, we don't know these streets."

"Thankfully I do." My head twisted right as Ayle appeared, holstering her pistol before dropping to one knee nearby. "The Talons have people watching the other avenues into the yard. Some skirmishing but no serious efforts yet, nor any sign that they're moving lots of people around."

Fucking weird. "They have to be planning something, they're never this patient."

There was a grunt. "You've fought them before?"

"Quite a few times on Illium." I shook my head slightly. "Their tactics are usually limited to swarming with the cannon fodder and trying to finish you off with their veterans, or a variation on that. Patiently trading shots up and down a street sure as fuck isn't normal."

"Especially when they're on a time limit." For a brief moment her body posture showed how concerned she was before she forced herself back into a rigid pose. "Red and Bern should have their main base cleared within the hour, and they've already freed up a White Tiger pack to head here and support us."

Which would be better than twenty people, more than enough to hold this line or the even better built one behind us indefinitely against what we were up against.

"What are you thinking?"

Her head tilted slightly. "Now you want _my_ opinion?"

Illyan let out an quiet sound at the woman's tone, but kept her focus downrange. "We're both Reyja'krem. I offered my advice and you took it. It would be impolite of me to not extend you the same courtesy."

Ayle's helmet remained focused in my direction for a long moment before she gave me the tiniest of apologetic nods. "I want to bait them forwards and get this over with. Can your people rig tech mines to proximity?"

"Proximity, no. Remote detonation, sure." It didn't take a genius to work out her plan. "Set them here, fall back to the third line?"

"You approve?"

I tried not to flinch as a round sparked off the barricade and ricocheted past us. "Big risk, big reward. Is the chance of blowing apart a bunch of kids with guns worth losing this line?"

The other Reyja'krem turned her head away, tilting it show that she was in thought. Before she could say anything either way, one of the Talons near the end of the line raised his voice.

"Ayle! There up to something down there!"

Both she and I rose just enough for our eyes to see over the wall. Sure enough there were both veterans and kids twitching their heads out up and down the street, as if checking for threats before ducking back.

"They're getting ready to rush us." Ayle spoke just as I said, "Here they come."

We exchanged a short glance, both of our heads tilting slightly in amusement before she spoke again. "How long would it take you to set up your mines?"

"More than we probably have."

"Figures. Forget that, but be ready to fall back if I give the word." She waited for me to nod before turning away and almost scuttling down the line, warning her people to be ready for whatever the True Sons had cooked up over the last quarter hour.

To my left, Voya's sniper rifle snapped out a round, blood misting where a young Turian had kept himself exposed for just a few moments too long. The weapon swiveled slightly as she kept it balanced, then jerked as she pulled the trigger once again.

I nodded slightly as a Batarian likewise collapsed with most of her broad head missing. "Better shot than Chen."

"At least his equal." Rane murmured, nudging Illyan over a bit as she hefted her rifle up. "Good to have."

The Quarian's gleaming right eye winked at us, and she did seem rather pleased with herself as she shot the ear off of a human who was trying to hunker back inside a doorway. The poor guy screamed as he fell on his ass, someone grabbing him to yank him inside. During the process his legs ended up outside, and she put a shot into his shin.

I snorted at the shot, jostling her shoulder with my fist before returning that hand to my own gun. "Stop showing off."

As if just to remind me that she wasn't about to do something just because I told her to, she fired two more shots. The first missed a Salarian as he ducked back, and the second winged a Turian in the arm. Her extra fun done with, she settled back, lifting her barrel slightly as it cooled. I could only shake my head minutely. Yelling at her wouldn't accomplish anything, and she'd spaced the shots enough to not overheat her weapon.

Voya became the last thing on my mind when the True Sons finally made their move.

Screaming, breaking voices rose in a cacophonous war cry as people in ragged clothing streamed onto the street and began sprinting towards us. Cobbled together pistols and burst-fire sub-machine guns began firing wildly as they did. There wasn't any organization to them, just a massive mixed-species mob of young adults and teenagers being herded forwards as gray armored veterans began carefully loping in their wake.

"Illyan, biotics! Rane, mines!" I snapped as I brought my left hand up, omni-tool glimmering as it came online. To our right the gangsters and mercenaries opened fire in earnest, guns glowing as they began to massacre the poor fools.

Chaotic blue light boiled out on my right, the Asari growling as she rose to throw a singularity into the massive crowd. Three people were yanked fully off of their feet, screaming as they were dragged upwards, while nearly a dozen more were slowed by it's pull.

Beside me, Voya almost nonchalantly began to execute the floaters, their blood swirling around the dark energy vortex in a rather disgusting fashion. The sight thankfully didn't last long as both Rane and I sent incinerates into the group affected by the biotic attack. People died screaming in the fire, the sound only growing as the wounded desperately tried to beat the flames off of themselves or clutched at their wounds as our allies sent some desultory fire in their direction.

Illyan sagged slightly as her power faded, but gamely sucked in a long breath and sent another glowing orb out to ensnare more of the True Sons. The slaughter repeated itself once, and then yet again, and once again as the mob continued to try and press on.

They should have broken and run. They almost always broke and ran. With how many of them were dying, with how many were laying on the ground and screaming for their parents as they bled, they _should have run._

But they didn't. Instead they died in droves, wearing at Illyan, overheating our guns, and buying the veterans time and space to advance with their lives.

The first grenades started sailing through the air as the last gaggle of kids started to fall, the Veterans bounding forwards.

"Incoming!" A Turian yowled somewhere on my right, his voice almost echoing.

Resisting the urge to duck behind the thin metal, I snapped my mines over to overloads before triggering one. The True Son's weapons detonated long before my own was halfway to its target. I honestly just expected fragmentation grenades, and there was certainly plenty of metal shards that easily tore into the barricade to pepper my shieds and make a few Talons yelp in surprise and pain.

But the real kicker were the flash-bangs.

At least two of them detonated with muted thunderclaps, my helmet's visor polarizing instantly to protect my eyes as the microphones cut out to protect my ears. I still staggered back to a knee, but I didn't collapse entirely like I had the last time I'd been exposed to the damn things. Around me, my friends were likewise shaken but read to go, but the Talons weren't in nearly as good of shape. Most of them were down, a few were vomiting, and suddenly a well protected firing line of a dozen plus people was reduced to just four of us.

"Fuck." The word was closer to a groan than anything else. Grinding my teeth, I yanked my gun up as my omni-tool shut off and forced myself back into a shooting position.

The True Sons had slowed down from their sprint into something closer to a brisk walk, apparently totally unconcerned after their grenade barrage. Given the state of the Talons they had reason to be cocky, bu it was still moronic.

My first target was a human, the same who'd I'd shot an overload at a few moments before. He didn't have time to scream as I put a long burst into his chest, the rounds tracking up from his waist to his throat before punching through his armor.

On either side of me, my companions were likewise forcing themselves back into position and shooting. Voya snapped a quick three shots into a Turian, while Rane and Illyan focused their fire on another human until red blood sprayed violently as arteries tore open.

"They're still up!" One of them managed to find their voice, "Close on them!"

"Move! Moo-" The second shout was cut off by a grenade exploding near the speaker, several enemies staggering from the blast.

"Asari! Singularity!" I snapped my head to the right at hearing Ayle's voice. Sure enough the other Reyja'krem was sort of on her feet, leaning heavily against the thin metal wall as she reached for another grenade.

Illyan didn't need to be told twice, a low growl of pain and pressure echoing in my helmet as she once again sent her power rolling out. Her exhaustion was easy to see when the spinning light didn't manage to yank any of the Sons off of their feet, but it was enough to hold them in place long enough for the rest of us to each pick a target and execute them as they desperately fought its pull.

Three bodies hit the ground, leaving seven veterans that I could see, against five of us.

Something like a whimper made me wince as Illyan dropped heavily to a knee, a hand pressed to her helmet as she gasped for air.

"Athame's fucking..." I couldn't stop the snarl at seeing her like that. "Ayle, grenade! Voya, Rane, focus fire, right to left!"

Another grenade promptly exploded in the street, sniper rounds and assault rifle bursts sending a Batarian tumbling. My own shots knocked the leg out from a Turian, but before I could correct my aim to finish him, the remaining True Sons got their shit together and did the smart thing as well.

All five that were still upright focused their own shots on me, metallic grains of sand hammering at my shields, my HUD screaming as they collapsed under the pounding in moments. I didn't have time to think, body dropping on reflex to get away from the crap trying to kill me. My armor shuddered and pressed as more shots tried to break through it, my arm bending back a bit as a few trailing rounds hit it on my way down.

"Kie! Your cane!" Rane shouted over the gunfire before likewise dropping as tracer rounds chased her into cover.

My cane? Oh fuck. Shoving my gun onto my belt, I had just managed to grab the walking stick-slash-weapon when the first True Son vaulted the barricade and practically tackled Voya in the process.

I didn't have time to help her wrestle the human woman, because a Turian promptly landed next to me after easily clearing the small wall and skidding to a stop as he realized that he'd actually overshot us. Rising up I brought my cane around in a two-handed strike that knocked his Phaeston down and away from me, following it up with a quick jab towards his throat.

My opponent dropped his weapon as he jerked back to avoid having me collapse his windpipe, before planting his fee and trying to rush me. Having had my ass kicked by Dorvahn enough to know that wrestling with a Turian was a one-way ticket to pain, I side-stepped to my right and twirled my cane before bringing it down on one of his hands.

There was an echoing snarl of pain inside of his helmet, his arm shaking as he tried to ring out the pain while the rest of him turned to keep trying to close the distance. Which I was fine with this time, because with his hand out of the way I could bring my weapon up again. His momentum combined with the strength of my two handed thrust was more than enough to tear something in his unarmored throat.

I backed away as he fell, on the off chance he'd managed to get up again, before turning to try and go help Rane or Voya.

"You killed a lot of my friends asshole." Or to end up staring at a bleeding True Son, all four of the Batarian's eyes blazing with fury as he held a pistol in my face.

For a second, things seemed to slow down as the barrel of the weapon steadied, his finger tightening as my body uselessly tried to twist out of the way.

And then a tiny circle of red appeared directly between his upper eyes, the round that would have gone through my own barrier-less head going unfired as he limply collapsed.

I like to think it entirely understandably that I staggered back, dropping my cane into a normal grip to lean heavily on it as I gasped for air. One or two gulps was all I managed before someone jostled me, a white and black colored blur sprinting past. More followed, armored humans, Asari, and Turians racing past me. A few more gunshots followed as they cleared the barricade, most of them vaulting it just as easily as the True Sons had before heading further down the street.

"Unexpected." The deep voice reverberated as I continued to just focus on breathing. Both Voya and Rane had staggered to their feet, the former coated almost helmet to toes in red blood as she sheathed her new knives. "Joining the defense of the wounded. Fighting valiantly to protect our rear."

"Bern." His name was all I could manage for a few moments, my self-control entirely absent as I channeled my inner Trena for a moment. "The currents finally carried your slow ass here I see."

A broad hand slapped my back hard enough that I would have toppled over without my cane. "And you still have spirit! Perhaps I truly was wrong about you."

Groaning, I winced as my knee throbbed in pain, leaning heavily on the walking stick as I started limping towards my friends. "I have to check on my people. Lot of True Son wounded out there, and maybe Krom as well."

The big man growled at the name. "That man again. You are sure?"

"Reasonable guess."

There was another rumble as he easily kept pace with me, his beard twisting with his lips. "We saw no evidence of him at their base, not yet. It is possible."

"Possible." I shook my head slightly. It seemed more than possible to me, but at the moment I didn't really care about convincing the gang leader about anything. I had friends to check on. "Rane, how's Illyan?"

My lover had removed the Asari's helmet, and was gently inspecting the back of her neck even as the larger alien weakly tried to push her away. "Amp looks intact, but she definitely overdid it."

"Ahm fine boss." The other woman protested. "Jus'm headache."

Ignoring the fact that Bern had followed me over, I slowly dropped to one knee and leaned in. "Illyan, you're bleeding from your nose, you're slurring your words, and your eyes aren't focusing."

She turned to glare at me, but ended up staring just to the left of my head. "Boss, I'm-"

"Biotically over-exhausted." Rane spoke before I could say the same thing, "Now please stop moving until we can get a medic over here."

"I'll send a runner for an Asari." Both of us glanced up at the White Tiger leader, "Many of my people were among the wounded, and I think a few are running around with your weapons now. Finding the proper help for your own wounded is the least I can do."

I grunted, not trusting myself to speak. Or to point out that he wasn't looking anywhere near Rane if he could help it.

Though I did make a mental note to thank Voya later as she quietly took up a spot behind him, long fingers holding her rifle once again. Her eyes flicked between me and the White Tiger, her gun rising slightly. I shook my head minutely, but brought my right up in a patient gesture.

She nodded, shifting a bit but staying behind him just in case.

He didn't seem to notice the bloodsoaked Quarian behind him, but his discomfort only grew when Ayle limped over with her helmet tucked under her good arm.

"Reyja'krem Ayle." I bowed my head politely, trying to smother a smile as Rane continued to bat Illyan's hands away as she checked her amp again. "How bad?"

"MacKeanen." Her maroon lips twisted a bit. "Three dead in the fighting, four more were sent to the Pillars while they were still stunned."

I winced at the news, "They sent plenty to be crushed by them before they went."

"They did." She bowed her head as Rane silently made a religious sign with her hands as she pulled back. "I see your people made it out all right."

"We were lucky." Insanely lucky in my case. If the White Tigers hadn't showed up when they had, the only thing between me and certain death was the thin armor of my helmet. At best a fifty-fifty shot, and that was was probably being stupidly generous considering the range. "How's the arm?"

"I'll survive."

"I'm sure that Red will be happy to hear that." The strained diplomacy in Bern's deep voice made me want to snort. "You did cost her more than a few credits to hire."

"Which I would call well spent." I let out a long breath but refrained from snarking further. He _had_ saved me life, racist asshole or not. "She directed the defense well."

"With your assistance." My fellow Reyja'krem surprised me by tilting her head with recognition from one equal to another. "Coordinating our fire on the flanks was a good call, and it was good to fight with competent combat engineers once again."

"I helped too." Illyan managed to groan the words out, drawing all three of our gazes.

"You did, that doesn't mean she's going to sleep with you." All of Ayle's eyes blinked rapidly as I reached down to flick Illyan's forehead. "At least wait until you're healed before trying to play up your heroic injuries."

"Ass."

Rolling my eyes I gave the other Reyja'krem an apologetic bow. "Asari."

The woman chuckled, "Indeed. I have to get the rest of my people, plus Red's Talons, back to triage. I might stop by your store for new armor, and maybe a few upgrades as well."

"I'll be expecting you." We exchanged final polite tilts of our heads before she turned away, leaving the three of us with the White Tiger, who had snagged one of his subordinates and sent them back to the courtyard to find us a medic. Voya tracked the young man as he gave her a wide berth, seeming to sigh at finally being noticed before idly walking around Bern so that she could settle onto the ground next to the rest of us.

"Got to use your knives?"

The Terminus Quarian gave a modest little shrug, and then ruined it by almost caressing one of the blades on her belt.

"Bern, you think your runner could find a hose to go with the medic?" Voya's eyes blinked before narrowing. "What? I'm not letting you into the store like that."

The gang leader seemed to restrain a snort, "I don't believe there is easy access to water in this area. Step back with me a moment, if you would."

Turning my head around, I stared at him through my helmet for a few moments before using my cane to shove myself upwards. "Fine. Rane, make sure Illyan doesn't move. Voya, keep them covered."

"As you say Kie." My lover tilted her head before reaching out to hold the Asari down before she could even try to lean upwards.

Leaving them behind, I limped after Bern as he led me a few meters away. The dark skin of his face was drawn beneath his facial hair, tattoos twisting a bit as he tried to work though several facial expressions before gaining control of himself. "I heard rumors that your assistance came with payment, in the form of my pack's territory being exchanged for that of the Talon's."

Glad for the helmet that concealed my own reaction, I simply took my cane in both hands and leaned on it.

"You don't deny it?"

"I don't deny that I'm tired of my people being stalked when making simple supply runs to customers, or just going shopping." I countered, my tone annoyed. "So yes, I took less money for the chance of having you end up farther away from us."

For a second, he actually looked surprised. "Away from... but it was for your safety that... Wait. You... you learned your language for that one over there, didn't you? Act like one for her sake?"

"They aren't all slavers and murderers." My eyes narrowed slightly, "For our safety? You seriously think that Rane'li was going to kill the three of us in our sleep?"

"Yes." I had to blink at the blunt reply. "I have had little reason to find anything redeemable in the species. Even the best, such as that Ayle creature, are little more than pure mercenaries who care nothing for others beyond what profit they can bring them."

"Can't judge Ayle, don't really know her." The words bought me a few moments of thought. "Rane is a lowborn exile from a small Hegemony colony, she was kicked out because she refused to help her parents' smuggling operation and they pinned it on her when caught. She was a communications technician who learned to fight because she didn't have a choice. She may not be a perfect being, but she's a better person than a lot of humans that I know."

His dark eyes flicked between me and where my lover was probably still tending to Illyan. "Your words are sure, kid, but you're hardly unbiased. And I wouldn't put it past those people to make their agents seem like good people."

"Seriously?" My head shook as irritation rose at his obstinacy. "I'm not asking you to have dinner with her, or me. Or even to really believe anything that I'm saying. I just want you to fucking stop shadowing our every move. If we're in your ocean, fine, I get it. You have the right to watch outsiders. But in the rest of Omega? I have to say that it's getting really fucking old."

His eyes narrowed, but I cut him off as his mouth opened. "And you said it yourself. We just helped protect your wounded, armed your people, and Illyan nearly melted her own fucking brain doing it. Is leaving us _alone_ really that much to ask in return? Or am I going to have to prepare to fight yet _another_ fucking gang?"

From the way his lip curled, I probably should have been more diplomatic and less Trena-like.

"You are lucky that I am an honorable person, MacKeanen. If that truly is your name. I thought to help protect your from yourself, and to protect your Asari friend and Quarian servant." His fists actually curled slightly. "I will agree to Red's proposed exchange, and my people will no longer shadow yours when you are outside of our territory. But we will be watching all the same."

"As you wish." I gave him a nod that would have made a Batarian try to murder me before turning and limping back towards me friends. Lumbering footfalls started before becoming fainter, and I risked a glance over my shoulder to confirm that Bern was indeed heading back towards the courtyard proper.

Awesome job there Cieran. Potential ally completely eliminated, potential massive problem created.

Then again, he had tried to insinuate that Rane was seducing me for some nefarious purpose. Which was laughable on some levels, but so beyond insulting that I couldn't help but lose my temper a bit.

By the time I'd shuffled back to where Illyan was laying down, a Talon medic was already present and deftly inspecting her head.

"..looks like mild biotic exhaustion combined with an improperly setup amplifies." The purple skinned Asari shook her head. "It was set for someone with far more biotic power than your friend here."

"I guarantee that she will have it properly configured in the future." It was a fight not to smile as Illyan seemed to srhink back a bit at Rane's tone. "Is she all right apart from that?"

"Nothing that sleep, plenty of food, and some painkillers can't cure." The medic paused before going on, "And she should probably refrain from sex for few days, melding has the risk of some damage."

"Here that llyan?" It was easier to relax with the White Tiger's Alpha gone. "No sex. Doctor's orders."

"She's a medic, not a doctor." She protested, wincing slightly as she lifted her head up a bit. "Doesn't count."

"We could always call Illium," Rane's head tilted to one side and back in amusement. "Adn confirm it with a hospital."

"Before or after we hire strippers to dance on the street outside of the store?"

My lover hummed, "It would have to be after, her health is important. If we did it before and she could harm herself attempting to enjoy them."

The prone Asari let out a strangled growl. "I'm going to kill both of you."

"Rather an unpleasant thing to do to friends." Rane pointed out. "Especially if one of them is your boss."

"I'm going to kill both of you _respectfully_."

I couldn't stop from snorting, and even Voya rolled her eyes as the medic smothered a chuckle before packing her things up. Once she'd given Illyan a few reminders to take it easy, she departed back towards the triage center, leaving us in relative privacy as the last of the wounded were hauled away and the White Tigers set up a new road bock where the outermost picket line had been.

"How'd the conversation with Bern go, Reyja'krem?"

"He insinuated you were seducing me on orders from someone. Or just because you're a Batarian and therefore evil." My voice lowered into an annoyed growl. "So not well. He's going to take Red's deal, but only because his people were among the wounded back there."

"He... what?" It was Rane's turn to actually growl, "He dared to..."

Voya reached out to place a hand on the lowborn's shoulder to stop her from getting up, earning a small nod of thanks from me.

"I may have reminded him that we were the good guys here. And threatened him. A bit." All three women turned to stare at me. "He insulted Rane. I lost my temper. He lost his. Don't expect many more buyers from his group."

Rane was silent for a long moment before finding her voice, "Reyja'krem you... threatened him because he insulted me?"

I tilted my head slightly in embarrassment. "Only slightly. I almost told him his people would start vanishing if they kept following us, but that seemed a little too direct."

My lover apparently lost her words again, but Illyan was there to groan on her behalf. "Great. Boss goes all noble and now I _know_ he's getting some tonight. And here I am _ordered_ not to find anyone fun."

Voya gave the big Asari a light kick to her leg placing the back of her hand to helmet and rolling her eyes.

"I'm not being dramatic!"

"Yes you are." I countered, groaning once again as I gathered my feet beneath me and stood on shaking legs. "Come on, let's get you up and over to the courtyard. Soon as we can get all of our crap together we'll head back to the store."

While Illyan did some more moaning and groaning, eventually making it to her feet and letting me and Rane haul her back while Voya easily kept pace beside us. For as much complaining as she did during the short trip, she was still able to take it easy while the rest of us spent the next hour repacking all of our equipment back into the rickety shuttle.

Red stopped by halfway through the process, her armor a bit scorched but otherwise unharmed. She didn't' stay long, just enough to confirm that yes, Bern would go through with the deal, and yes, he now trusted me even less than he had beforehand. Promising that she or one of her lieutenants would be by the shop to receive our bill for used equipment later, she had promptly headed back to supervise the aftermath of the base's capture.

Barely holding together or not, none of us wanted to have to make the walk back, and so we risked our lives on the shuttle. It proved sturdier than its appearance might have led us to believe, but none of us were particularly upset when the pilot settled the vehicle on the broad street in front of the store. Rane headed in first, shutting off Gltich before the shuttle's pilots helped us haul our crap back out of the shuttle and into the store.

Not bothering to properly unpack any of it, I simply shut and locked the door once we were done, and waved the normal sleeping arrangement rules after yelling at Voya for slipping inside without cleaning any of the blood off. The Quarian had simply given me a rude gesture before vanishing up to her room, leaving flaking blood behind her as she did.

Giving Rane and I a final half-hearted glare as we helped her get her armor off, Illyan had collapsed into her bed without bothering to change further. I'd made sure that she had a few painkillers ready along with some water for when she woke up before shutting her door and retreating to our own room.

"Reyja'krem?" The lowborn's voice was muffled as she yanked her helmet off, my own hitting the floor a moment later. "When we were walking through the backways... I didn't know that you knew that gesture. Did Shaaryak..."

My cheeks heated up a bit, and I tried to focus on getting the rest of my plates off. I'd honestly hoped that she hadn't remembered that little moment given everything else, "No, that one was from Chen. Had to look up what it meant."

"Oh." She quieted for a few moments, stepping forwards to help me get my backplate and its complex systems disengaged before turning to let me help her with the same. "I'm honestly surprised that he knew it. It's very... old fashioned."

"That's what the extranet said." I murmured, "I just wanted you to remember what your life is now."

There was a slow breath as she shrugged the heavy armor off, letting me see the cloth underarmor that was stuck to her with sweat. When she spoke again, her voice had lowered further. "By claiming ownership of me?"

"You know I don't think of it that way."

"You may not, my Reyja'krem." She turned slowly in place, her lower eyes firmly looking downwards while her upperset met mine for just a moment. "But what if I do?"

"Rane, you aren't..." My voice trailed off as she slowly placed a hand on my chest.

"I'm not your slave. I'm not a lowborn woman from the Hegemony brought to warm your bed." Her fingers curled into my shirt. "But I am _yours_ , Reyja'krem. If you will have me to keep."

I let out a very slow exhale before reaching out to wrap my own fingers around the cloth on her chest and use it to steadily pull her closer. I tried to find the words to say something, one way or the other... but in the end all I could do was pull her to me and press our mouths together, feeling the rush as she pressed herself against me.

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Scales._

_User 2: Ghai._

_User 1: Sorry, Hey Ghai. How's Illium?_

_User 2: Corrupt and decadent._

_User 1: So the same as it ever is._

_User 2: Essentially. Omega?_

_User 1: Corrupt and a shithole._

_User 2: Unsurprising. Rane? Illyan?  
_

_User 1: Both are fine. Illyan exhausted herself in a fight earlier, but seems all right now. Well enough to complain anyway._

_User 2: Same Illyan. Yourself and Rane?_

_User 1: We are fine. And tell your bondmate that I'm not telling her how the sex is._

_User 2: Pointless, but will._

_User 1: Thanks._

_User 1: You still doing all right?_

_User 2: Starting to show. Innumerable crass jokes have begun._

_User 1: Seriously scales... I'm going to hit her for you. At least a few times._

_User 2: Appreciated._

_User 2: She misses you._

_User 1: It is still weird to not have her around..._

_User 1: Sorry, have to go. Voya left bloodtracks on the floor._

_User 2: Bloodtracks?_

_User 1: She likes knives._

_User 1: Also someone was stupid enough to fight her hand to hand._

_User 2: Condolences for your flooring._

* * *

**End Act 1: The Descent**

* * *

_**Next up is Interlude I – The Briefing** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we end the warm-up act with a bit of a brawl, and then another rane and cieran scene. This act was rather different for me, given how little fighting there was in comparison to how my stories normally go, and rather heavy on quieter, talkative scenes. Still, I hope it turned out all right, no one has seemed to complain in the reviews at least.
> 
> Up next will be two interludes, both from Trena's point of view back on Illium. The first will cover her briefing for Aethyta and a few other cell leaders (including Cieran), as well as touching on what Trisren was able to find out during her part in the battle. The second interlude will focus more on more personal conversations between her and Ghai.
> 
> Once that is done we'll have a bit of a time skip before starting Act 2: Fratricide.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	17. Interlude I: The Briefing

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Interlude I: The Briefing**

"All of you shut the fuck up and listen." I snapped, the synthesized murmuring from the wall speakers cutting off almost at once. "Briefing on the crap we've found out about the Blue Suns and Hegemony is starting."

Behind me, my bondmate gave a quiet sigh while Aethyta glared at me from behind her desk. The three of us were the only people present in Eternity's office, partially because the once tidy space was now filled to the brim with crap. Screens were haphazardly hooked up on the walls, wires laying in a web across the floor to connect them to each other and to the console on the old fish's desk. Throw in a few buzzing servers and there was barely enough space for the chairs that Ghai and I were sitting in.

My current boss kept her glare up for a few more moments, probably until she realized that I got worse from Sederis on an almost weekly basis. "All unit leaders sound off before we get started, location and purpose only."

 _"Omega combat lead present._ " Trisren's voice was modulated to sound almost as deep as a Krogan's.

" _Omega support._ " The ape sounded fucking exhausted, even with the machines making his voice flat. " _Let's get this over with."_

" _Xentha combat and support are listening."_ I didn't know either of them.

 _"Erinle combat looking forwards to good news._ " Which would mean her getting to kill some Batarians.

" _Reinle support is here._ " Prissy bitch.

"All right. Illium lead, you can go ahead." Aethyta waved a blue hand in our direction. "Start with what you lifted from the Shaaryak family mansion."

I grunted, reaching up to adjust the headset that was supposed to mess with my voice. "Right. Took us a while to decode what we found, and then to sort through all of the crap. Almost all of it was the usual trash you'd find floating downstream, but we did find a few secured messages sent through the mansion's comm servers to a location in Nos Irrail."

My eyes flicked down to the tablet in my lap, "I-Sec was persuaded to launch a raid on the house in question, and came out with a smuggler that we've been trying to track down for over a year now. In exchange for a lesser sentence, they got a full confession out of her. She was apparently paid by the SIU to sneak members of Commander Balak's crew off planet during the weeks leading up to the massacre."

" _Omega support."_ The ape cut in, the flat voice no longer sounded tired in the slightest. " _What castes?"_

"Entirely midcaste, the numbers match those crew members who vanished but weren't confirmed killed by... unknown parties." Someone, probably Trisren, snorted. "She swears by Athame that she didn't do anything besides fly them to Erinle, and that she didn't bring any SIU fucks back with her."

" _Erinle combat. Do we believe her? Those Hegemony assholes made a mess of this planet."_

Ghai spoke tersely into her own microphone. "Verified by meld."

"What she said." I grunted, "It confirms that Balak was getting his people off planet before the attack, which definitely implicates him."

" _How can you be sure? Xentha support here."_

"Omega support," Aethyta's voice was hard, "Explain it."

" _Everyone pulled out was midcaste, which would be his crew's officer core. Any lowborn left behind would barely be considered people to an extremely conservative Highborn."_ His synthesized voice turned puzzled. " _Which typically isn't a description used for the Balak family."_

" _Xentha combat. I can confirm that. That clan is rapidly supportive of the Fist of Khar'shan movement, but they're also staunch traditionalists. They take their responsibilities seriously so far as our agents can tell."_

 _"_ Which is why the second set of messages we picked out is a fucking problem." I cut in before they could keep speculating. "We've got two signals with no return messages sent through to Khar'shan. The first to Balak's superiors, demanding to know where the half-strength SIU team that preceded him was located. The second was to his Patriarch and grandfather, asking the same thing more politely."

Someone, probably the ape, let out a very displeased sound.

Glancing at the old fish, I continued speaking when she nodded. "We don't have any fucking proof, but our best guess is that someone in the Hegemony cut the local Balak out and used that SIU team to kill his crew. It cripples Shaaryak's rising power and makes sure that that asshole's reaction is genuine to his people being dead."

 _"Doesn't track."_ The ape spoke before anyone else could, " _There were only five of them. I don't care how elite they were, they couldn't have done all that shit that quickly."_

" _Xentha combat agrees. The SIU is good but I've seen the reports from I-Sec. There had to have been at least fourteen people to accomplish that level of gore in the time-frame allotted."_ There was a brief pause. " _Were there any other Hegemony teams on planet?"_

"None that weren't locked on their goddess damned floor in the hotel. Balak's personal SIU teams were with him and that bit... Shaaryak at the time."

Everyone mulled on that for a moment before Xentha combat spoke up again. " _Any chance they brought in another team?"_

"We haven't found shit yet." I felt my nostrils flex as I exhaled. "Erinle?"

" _Still working our way into the local governments trust, haven't had a chance to try and get access to their sensor logs yet."_ Irritation came through the computerized crackling. " _I've got my people working on a black operation if they don't relent soon."_

 _"What about the True Sons?"_ Her support leader spoke up, " _Could the Hegemony have allied with them? That would explain the brutalization, would it not?"_

My lips twisted. "Our belief is that that crap was the SIU trying to point the blame at those assholes."

" _But is it possible?"_

"Yes." Ghai's low voice was a growl. "Omega investigating."

Not that I, or her, expected Tris or the ape to find crap on the True Sons's computers at this point. Well, probably all kinds of shit that would be interesting as it concerned what they and the Blue Suns had been up to, but nothing about the hotel attack.

Nor, apparently, did Aethyta. "The Omega team's priority is shifting. They're to continue operations against the True Sons, but I want both of your teams to also keep your eyes on the horizon for any Hegemony action on the station. They're your prime targets now."

" _Confirmed._ " Tris grunted. " _True Sons are now isolated in their founding stronghold regardless, and the Talons are cutting back operations now that they have what they wanted. We'll need to find new backers to finish them off."_

"Keep me informed. Erinle teams, if you don't get public access in the next two weeks go ahead and run whatever plan you've got."

" _Understood ma'am."_

"All teams except Omega can drop. I expect additional scrutiny of any Hegemony operations."

The other four team leads chorused out their understanding before the screens shut themselves off. While Aethyta disabled the voice modulation on the remaining two, I yanked the stupid thing on my head off and tossed it onto her desk with a clatter. Which drew yet another fucking glare, and an annoyed flick on my shoulder from my bondmate.

"I hate shit on my head all right?" I let out a tight exhale before trying to slouch a bit in the rigid chair. "And the crap we're finding out isn't helping my mood."

" _Or mine._ " The ape's sigh was clear. " _Fuck. You seriously think that Balak didn't have anything to do with it?"_

"Nothing's sure yet kid." Aethyta yanked a draw open, glass clanking as she drew out a few dark bottles. "All we have are messages that are just text. Could mean he wasn't involved, could be him trying to cover his ass. The only thing we can pin on him was trying to get his crew off planet, which isn't something you can say was criminal."

" _Not unless he knew it was coming scales."_

I caught the bottle that was thrown in my direction, twisting the top off as she threw another to Ghai. "Unless that, but we've got no fucking proof yet ape."

There was a growling sound. " _Just circumstantial shit and guesses."_

"We'll find out what happened ape."

" _Thanks scales."_ He let out a long breath that made the speakers crackle. " _One other thing, I ran into another Reyja'krem on Omega. She was running as a freelance merc with the Talons, was hoping you could look up anything you can find on her."_

Aethyta grunted. "Name?"

" _Ayle. Supposedly her lord died during the war, so her exile would be recent."_ The pause that followed seemed embarrassed. " _She figured out who I was in about five seconds. My accents in both languages."_

The Matriarch's lips twisted, but she didn't seem surprised. "Athame's ass. I'd hoped you'd stay incognito longer kid."

" _So far there's about a dozen rumors about who he is, but she's the only one who's confirmed it."_ Trisren stepped in to defend him. " _He keeps his armor on almost all the time and doesn't volunteer his name, most bystanders think he's Batarian. And the ones who know he's human just think he's either insane, madly in love with Rane, or is trying to hide from someone important by disguising himself as the last thing they'd expect."_

_"The last is the Talons theory. Which means I hear guesses every bloody shift."_

I couldn't help but ask, "What's the running bet ape?"

" _Shadow broker at three to one, followed by the Corsairs at three and a half."_

Even Aethyta snorted at that. "I'll go through my predecessor's files and see if she had anything on your new friend. Any other issues you two?"

" _None of the local bars can make a decent Illium Moonrise."_

Tris added her own grumble. " _Or a fusionnaire that doesn't burn my throat."_

" _Illyan won't stop bitching about not having scales around to have sex with."_

_"Dorvahn and I don't have enough privacy."_

_"Bloodstains are a pain to clean out of a floor."_

_"_ Athame's fucking... how many do you two have saved up?"

_"Nine more for me. Cieran?"_

" _Another dozen."_

I barked out a laugh at Aethyta's long-suffering expression, the old matriarch bringing her hands up to rub her temples as she stared into her beer. "Just get back to work. All of you. I don't get paid enough for this crap."

* * *

_**Next up is Interlude II: The Future** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather short and to the point interlude, just covering what they've discovered so far about what happened at the hotel in Terminus. So far fingers are pointing to the Hegemony, if not nessacarily at Balak. Time will tell if that continues to be the case, or if the SIU was up to something else entirely.
> 
> Next chapter will be a bit of fluff between Trena and Ghai, taking place about two weeks after this meeting. Act 2 will then begin, starting in December of 2181 (roughly two months after the end of Act 1).
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	18. Interlude II: The Future

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Interlude II: The Future**

_Date: 10-28-2181_

I let out a quietly pleased sound as I watched my bondmate emerge from the bathroom, dressed only with a band around her chest and loose pants. Her blue skin was still glistening slightly, and her prosthetic was almost gleaming in the low light. "Good shower?"

"Acceptable." Her low voice scratched at the edges as she turned the lights off before padding in my direction, her living hand reaching out to pull the blankets back. "Lonely."

"Then you should have fucking woken me up." I glowered at her, reluctantly shuffling enough to the side for her to fit into into bed with me. "Not like I'm going to say no to pinning you against the wall with water running over us."

I could see her lips curl a little bit as the bed shifted with her weight, "Bed is more comfortable."

A slight tingle shot down my spine at her words. "Then why the fuck are you wearing clothes?"

"Talk first. Sex after." She settled onto her back, extending an arm above my head in clear invitation.

Feeling very glad that the ape wasn't around to see me like this, I shifted over to press myself into her side, resting my head on her shoulder as she pulled me close. The soft smell of her body wash filled my nose as I breathed, the scent reminding me of the many times that she _had_ woken me up to pull me into the shower with her.

My hand shifted to rest on her abs, trailing down to the tiny bump only slowly making itself visible on her abdomen. The feel of it brought a new wave of emotions cresting over me, and a few moments later her prosthetic hand came to rest on mine, the cool metal holding it there.

Letting out a ragged breath, I managed to focus my brain after a few moments. "Talk about what?"

"Cieran."

A displeased sound came out before I could stop it. "I like the ape, but I'd rather not think about him right before sex. All that fur. Fuck!"

The fingers that had pinched the skin on my back relaxed. "Trena."

"Fine, fine. What about him?"

"Messages."

I stilled in her arms. "Fuck."

She sighed, letting me her the stretching in her throat as she forced the words out. "You didn't think that I'd find them?"

My lips twisted. "I didn't send them."

"Aethyta would kill you." Her grip on me tightened. "Literally. You agreed not to tell him."

"And I still fucking regret that." I let out a tight exhale, resisting the urge to press my lips against her neck to distract us from this crap. "You don't think he deserves to know that Trisren is looking for another human who went through the same shit?"

"Deserve? Probably." My loose shirt rose as she slipped her hand beneath it, warm fingers stroking my back. "Put him in danger? With his state of mind?"

It probably fucking would. "Athame's ass..."

Nor was Ghai apparently done, her chest moving with sharp breaths as she forced more full sentences out. "You think you're acting like Shaaryak, keeping him in the dark as she did with Korlus. But you aren't. You're keeping him alive, leaving him focused on what he _needs_ to focus on."

I closed my eyes and let out another breath. "I fucking hate it when you do your perceptive thing."

"Sorry."

"No you aren't."

"Not particularly." Fingertips drifted up to touch the back of my head. "I've been speaking with Rane."

"She tell you anything good?"

Her ruined throat vibrated in a low growl.

"You know you are my bondmate right? Supposed to support and help me and shit?"

Fingers drummed slowly on my back.

"Fine. Dammit."

I felt her lungs swell as she took a calming breath before speaking again. "She worries about him."

"It's _Rane._ The only time she probably doesn't fucking worry about him is when her clothes are on the floor."

Ghai needed another breath before she spoke as if I hadn't opened my mouth. "She doesn't think he sleeps when she isn't there with him, and even then she will wake up to find him on their console or having already stolen away to start working rather than being beside her."

It was my turn to let out a tight exhale. Dammit ape.

"Sometimes he thrashes in his sleep and she has to hold him until he stills. The only time she is sure that he sleeps is when he is truly exhausted."

"He tell her anything?"

"Nightmares. His kills. Korlus." Fuck. I'd thought he'd adapted to the first. The second... fuck. How did you get over finding out that you'd been dead? "He is hesitant on details. She wants to know if they are normal for him."

I muddled my way through the mess of my memories. "He doesn't talk much about his private shit, but that bitch was always worried about how much sleep he got."

She let out a ragged breath. "Athame. Months, years. He needs a mind healer."

"He's fine Ghai."

"Trena."

"He's _fine._ He doesn't need to sit in front of some prissy fucking bitch and listen to her tell him how to think. Not like she could meld with him and try and patch his fucking brain up anyway."

My bondmate let out a low growl. "Prissy."

"I wasn't talking about you, you know that. And it's been what, two centuries since you did crap like that?"

"Two and a half." I felt her let out a long breath. "Can't do it by message. Need him here."

Blinking, I pushed myself up with one hand so that I could stare down at her. "You seriously want to fucking play shrink for him?"

"You think he's fine." She pointed out, wincing as she had to continue speaking to get her point across. "Rane can't press him. I used to do it for a living."

"Two hundred and fifty years ago." I reminded her. Again. "And he's stuck on Omega until they deal with the True Sons and their shit."

Her nose flared slightly. "Trena."

"He's _fine._ Lot's of people have problems sleeping."

" _Trena._ " Metal fingers covered my mouth before I could say anything. "If Shaaryak was worried, and Rane is now worried, there must be reason."

Fucking... shit. Nudging her hand aside with my chin, I carefully lowered myself and pressed myself into her side once again. Both of her arms carefully wrapped around my waist while one of mine slid around hers, and she stayed quiet to give me all the time I needed to work crap out.

The ape... Cieran, had always had problems sleeping, according to the women that he slept with. Maybe the shit the Matriarch had put him through was part of it, maybe it was the fact that he'd had to kill an awful lot of fucking people. Not everyone was cut out for that kind of shit.

Athame's fucking azure. Ghai was probably right about something happening in his head. Maybe just talking with her would help, more than that bitch or Rane could.

Or me apparently.

I let out a slow breath. "Sorry."

Her arms tightened gently. "Protective."

My lips twisted a bit. "He's the first friend I made in a hundred years."

"You miss him."

"Didn't I just say that?" Pressing my face further into her neck, I breathed deeply and tried to push some of this crap aside. "Maybe he just needs more sex."

"Rane is likely willing." I felt her shudder as I kissed her soft skin, and let the hand around her waist slide down to a strong thigh. "Work schedules limit fun."

"Good thing we know someone else there." There was a low groan when I bit at her jawline. "Illyan wouldn't mind ending up in their bed."

"Cieran..."

"He is fucking stupid about sharing." I agreed, shifting my hand up to grab at her pants. "I'll come up with a plan, keep him nice and tired so he can sleep on that tides damned station. And when he gets back you can talk to him. Deal?"

Her body bucked, throwing me onto my back as she rolled on top of me. "Trena. Shut. Up."

My heart thrummed. I fucking loved it when she growled at me like that. "Make me."

Ghai let out a ruined little snarl, her lips cutting off anything else that I might have said.

* * *

_**Next up is Act II: Fratricide** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of pillow talk between Ghai and Trena, mostly about their worries about their friend. And then they were themselves. Not going to spoil too much for the next act, it shouldn't take long for the first chapter to come out (fingers crossed).
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	19. Act 2: The Warlord

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Act 2: Fratricide**

_Date: 12_ _-02-2181_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Warlord**

Keeping my face impassive, I carefully reached out and pushed several credit chits forwards. "Raise, fifty."

Rane's copper toned lips didn't so much as twitch, her lower eyes focusing on her own cards while her upper set flicked between me and the other players. "Call."

"Spirits... too rich for me." Dorvahn threw his hand down in disgust. "There's already four hundred on the table."

"Five fifty now." Trisren corrected him, a blue hand sending some of her money into the pool. "Round four draw."

Grunting, I reached out and took another card as the two alien women did the same. It was a fight not to grimace at the sight of a Justicar Initiate. It wasn't a low value piece, but it didn't help the rest of my hand in the slightest. Letting out a slow breath I planted it face down and slid it forwards, hesitating for a moment before selecting my Becalmed Trader and pressing it away as well.

Sacrifice made, I grabbed a new card and it was another fight not to nod in approval at the Militant Matriarch. Put with my War Galleon and my three Warrior Maidens, that gave me a solid boarding party. It wasn't the strongest hand but it was up there. To my left, Rane had likewise given up a pair to select another, while Trisren calmly stood firm on whatever she had drawn.

"Your start Kie."

I let out a hum, trying to make it look like I was hesitating before selecting two more high denomination coins and pushing them in. "Hundred."

All of my lover's eyes narrowed slightly, but she matched it after a moment.

Trisren gave me a slightly wolfish grin before grabbing a handful of her money and letting the coins drop. "Two."

The thin Asari didn't normally bluff... but she'd looked a little rattled back when we'd first been dealt our hands. "Call."

"Same." Rane murmured demurely.

Blue fingers twisted to drop her cards. "Cabal of Athame."

I couldn't stop from grinning, showing the hand just one rank stronger than hers. "Boarding Party and a War Galleon."

"Athame's... dammit. Rane, tell me you got him again?"

The lowborn gave me an apologetic look before turning over her own cards. "Three Justicar Matriarchs with a War Galleon."

I could only groan and settled back into my chair, shaking my head as Rane added another massive pile of credits to her already large collection. "How many hands have you won now?"

"I honestly haven't been counting, Reyja'krem."

"Twelve." Dorvahn grumbled as he collected the cards, talons clicking as he started to shuffle them. "Out of twenty games."

"Hurry up and get the next hand dealt." A hand rose to cover my mouth as I yawned. "I'd like to win at least some of my money back, or have more of yours end up in her hands."

"Stop bitching Kie." Tris growled, punctuating her words with a quick pull from her beer. "You know she's going to give you your credits back after this. She always does."

"Why do you think I want you to lose more of your money to her?" I pointed out reasonably, chuckling when she gave me a rude gesture. "Speaking of money, how's the continuing search for a new employer going?"

If anything the question only made her glower increase. "It still isn't. Two fucking months and no one wants to finish off those fucking assholes. My guys might love the small-time operations we're running for the Talons and the Brotherhood, but I'd rather crack the True Sons servers so we can get off this Athame damned station."

"Won't argue with that, never thought I'd call Omega boring but..."

"But you four have been cooped up in this place for weeks." Dorvahan shook his head slightly. "Hard to blame any of you for being bored. Are the Talons still respecting your privacy?"

"The Talons are fine, decent neighbors even for a gang." My hands stretched out to catch the cards as the Turian dealt them. "And the White Tigers avoid us these days. Problem is the goddess damned freelancers who think they can intimidate us."

"Two false starts with Voya's targets haven't helped either." Rane murmured, "Or that we haven't heard much of anything from Illium for three weeks now."

"And the supplies have slowed down." I muttered in agreement. "Since Aethyta runs the dummy corps that buy them I can't even figure out what's causing the delays."

"Politics." Trisren made the word sound more like a vile oath. "Old fish hasn't even had the job for a Citadel year and they're already trying to say she's incompetent. Matriarch Lidanya had to leave the _Destiny Ascension_ to answer questions about our boss's character."

I could only groan and lower my head, feeling Rane reach out to pat my arm. "Pillar of... why do we work for those people again?"

"Because so far they haven't moved to cut off our budgets." Dorvahn rumbled, his mandibles twitching irritably. "Though how long that is going to last is anyone's guess. Which is why we're heading to..."

He shut up rather quickly at his lover's glare.

Rane and I exchanged a slight glance. "Tris?"

"Athame's ass, you are not getting sex for a week. A _local_ week." The Turian wilted slightly as the Asari growled at him. "Dammit."

"Tris." I repeated myself.

There was a long exhale before she shook her head. "Dammit. All right, the True Sons are hold up in the bottom of the Gozu district, and they're basically isolated down there. The Brotherhood took over the rest of Gozu, but they aren't really fighting them, and the Talons are too busy consolidating their new territory to bother. The only group still shooting on sight is the Cresting Wave, but they don't have the numbers to make a push."

"Which leaves who, Aria? Blood Pack?" I shook my head. "I can't imagine Aria caring about them now anymore than she did when they were actually a force, and I've never heard of the Blood Pack contracting out."

"They don't, and she doesn't." Blue fingers drummed once on the table. "Which is why I started looking off station, and got a hold of Xentha lead."

Xentha? The Terminus's most populous planet was purported to be a middle ground between Illium's civilized corruption and Omega's chaos, at least from what I'd read. But it wasn't exactly nearby, and it was mostly controlled by... oh. "T'Ravt?"

"An enclave on Omega would be a serious prestige boost, and would give her another front to fight the Blood Pack on." She let out a slow breath. "Xentha lead put us in touch. T'Ravt wanted that team to work with her own commando squads, but they're contracted to some Terminus Quarian to try and liberate some of his people from a pirate band. She recommended us as 'old friends' instead. It's an opening."

I nodded slightly, "Well yeah, but I don't think that the Republics would be happy to have one of their people helping the Warlord that they hate the most."

"Then they shouldn't have cut me off from my boss so that I can run this shit by her." Trisren countered. "And we aren't even sure if she's targeting the True Son complex yet, that's why I'm meeting with her in Afterlife next shift."

Shaking my head, I finally pulled my cards off of the table to check them. "Good luck with that then, and let me know if you need a supply run."

She grunted, "For some reason I thought you'd disapprove."

"Why would I?" I shook my head once again, "You said it yourself, as soon as we crack the True Son servers we're basically done here. Well, we have to deal with Voya's targets but if we know we can leave the station anyway we can ditch the subtle approach."

"And I do believe a few months here has been sufficient." Rane sighed, her lower eyes dropping as she examined her own cards. "It would be pleasant to return to Illium. It is my lead, yes? Assuming that you have time for another round?"

"It is." Tris grabbed her own cards, "Have time for a few more before we have to go get cleaned up."

We ended up playing another half a dozen rounds, of which Rane unsurprisingly won half of. The conversation thankfully turned less serious, instead shifting mostly to each couple teasing the other. Well, me and Trisren teasing one another about our partners. Comments about the marks on my neck would be retaliated with remarks about scratches on Trisren's arms. For his part, Dorvahn grew visibly mortified as the conversation turned more risque from there, and Rane flushed when Tris tried to guess what positions she favored.

The Turian was eventually successful in pulling the Asari away, even if neither looked like they really wanted to prepare for a meeting with on the Terminus's premier warlords. They departed after confirming that they would keep us in the loop if T'Ravt did hire them, and if their target would indeed be the True Son's hanger complex.

Once they were gone, Rane and I spent some time cleaning off the kitchen table and throwing empty bottles away before she migrated to the couch. I was about to join her before I noticed the time, and the fact that we were still missing someone. Sighing, I turned away from where my lover was reclining and instead headed to the hallway that lead to the bedrooms.

"Illyan!" My palm slapped the metal door a few times. "Wake your ass up!"

When the only response was silence, I pounded a few more times. "Illyan! You've been asleep for twelve fucking hours! Voya's shift is almost up!"

Something like a mumble came from the other side of the door, the sound shortly followed by something heavy hitting the floor.

I could only sigh, "Did you just fall out of bed?"

Again the only thing I could hear was her voice muttering something. That was shortly joined by something metallic hitting the door on her side of it.

"You might as well go in, Reyja'krem." Rane shook her head from the couch, her lower eyes reading something on her omni-tool while her upper set glanced my way. "Unless you'd prefer to wait for Voya."

"I'm not that cruel." Turning back to the door, I amended myself with a mutter as I started tapping out Illyan's pass-code. "Most days."

The control panel gave a quiet chime before the metal slid away, allowing me to step into the mess that was the Asari's room. Now, I wasn't a neat freak by any means, to Rane's oft-hidden annoyance, but Illyan went way past disorganization and straight into Trena T'laria territory.

Minding my feet so as not to tangle them in the clothes thrown haphazardly around, and making sure that I didn't trip over the armored boot that she'd thrown at the door, I carefully approached the massive lump that had pulled most of the blankets off of the bed with it.

"Illyan, you seriously need to stop moping."

A single bleary eye opened, glistening slightly in the light from the door.

Crossing my arms, I nudged a bare foot that was half covered by a blanket, half covered by a pair of pants. "Your sister is _fine_. Stop being so bloody dramatic."

This time the mumble was clearer. "Easy for you to say."

Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose, I could only sigh again. "She said that there was a Maiden who looked _cute._ She didn't fucking elope or go with Trena on a pub-crawl that ended with an orgy."

"By the goddess... she wouldn't, no, it's Trena, she totally would-"

"Illyan!" This time I gave her heel a decent little boot. "Calm the fuck down already."

She tried to kick the sheet off of her, only to further entangle the thing around her legs. "You can't say shit like that and tell me to calm down boss!"

"Just did. Please tell me you're at least wearing clothes under that."

"Don't change the subject." Despite her words, she was at least wearing sweatpants and a band around her breasts, "You don't think that... you _asshole_ , you're just trying to piss me off enough to wake up."

I shrugged, "Your point?"

Biotic light flared as she finally flung the offending piece of cloth away. "That it's working. Also that I want to beat your goddess damned face in for putting that picture in my head."

"The one of your sister doing shots with Scales, or the one of her falling into bed with Trena and Ghai?"

The big Asari let out a rumbling growl as she stumbled to her feet, looming over me in an increasingly threatening fashion as her eyes narrowed. "Boss."

Trying not to notice how her anger was making her flex her muscles, I waved a hand in a calming motion. "Illyan, calm down. Scales might let her drink but you know she'd never let anything happen to Erana. Plus Ghai would drown her in the ocean if she even thought about it."

Arms about as thick as my neck crossed her chest as she continued to glare at me. "Still easier ways to wake me up."

"You're right, I could let Voya in the next time you oversleep."

Her eyes widened for a second in horror before she shook her head, lips curling upwards, "But then you wouldn't have the chance to see me naked."

I couldn't help but snort. "Illyan, you've been trying to get into bed with Rane and I for the last two months. If I wanted to see you naked all I have to do is ask and I know it."

"You could at least flirt back a little," The anger seemed to be dissipating as she pouted, hands shifted down to her hips. "You used to."

"You also used to keep it at a bit of teasing." Was my counter. "Look, I get it, it's been a few months and that's not normal for an Asari. I also get that you don't want to touch the prostitutes around here. But _seriously._ Seduce Ayle the next time she stops by, or that Talon. Hetherus. Fuck, convince Voya to go with you to Afterlife and pay for a private room with a dancer."

This time her blue lips twisted down a bit. "I don't like paying for sex, and Hetherus is a normal damned Turian. Wants to be all serious and shit."

"Looks like you're stuck with just your hands then."

She muttered something that I couldn't make out, roughly grabbing a shirt before stomping towards her bathroom without another word. Watching her go, I could only shake my head and sigh before carefully exiting her space, shutting the door behind me as I did.

Rane shut her omni-tool off as I traversed the hallway and entered the main living room again, all of her eyes flicking in my direction as her head tilted subtly to the left. "She still...?"

"Being overly dramatic about not getting laid? Yup."

My lover gave a quiet sigh, "I was inquiring about her sister, Reyja'krem."

"Still being dramatic about that too." I shrugged in the Asari way as I joined her on the couch. The furniture creaked a bit as she adjusted herself, her well built frame coming to rest against my side as I absently wrapped an arm around her. "I'm half tempted to see if we can't send her back to Nos Astra for a few days for a vacation so that she can spend some time with her."

Warm lips pressed against my chin before she pressed her face against the side of my neck. "Erana, or Trena?"

"Erana. Honestly I think her sex obsession is just her trying to cope without her sister around." Bringing my right hand up, I covered a yawn as I relaxed into the couch with her warm body beside me. "Soon as we can actually get a hold of the old fish I'll see what I can work out for her."

My own yawn triggered one in my companion, though she muffled hers with my shirt. "Rather noble of you, my Reyja'krem."

Given the time, the pair of us really should have been going to bed so that we could sleep, but personally I was pretty content where we were. Rane apparently agreed, pulling her legs up onto the couch after a few minutes and curling herself against my side as her breathing slowed.

I liked holding her when she slept. All of the tension that came with always keeping her posture perfect before a highborn just drained way, letting her relax in way that I could never convince her to do while she was still awake. That wasn't to say that there hadn't been progress, there definitely had been. She was far more comfortable speaking her mind in public, even if she still tended to couch her criticisms in third person hypotheticals.

But she was still a Batarian, and raised in the Hegemony as a lowborn at that. She would always have some baggage, and the biggest part of that was how she would always hold herself as proper for a lowborn before a Reyja'krem. Well, except for those few times when I manipulated her into the being the aggressor in bed, though that was a rare occurrence.

I was half asleep when Illyan emerged from her bedroom, already wearing her armor sans the helmet in preparation for opening the store with the shift change. She paused in the hallway before doubling back as if she'd forgotten something, returning to the living room a few minutes later with her blanket in her arms.

She threw it over Rane and I before I could protest, making sure that it covered the woman beside me properly before she spoke very quietly. "You really going to give me a vacation?"

I gave her a half-hearted glare. "Listening in again?"

"You're a good guy Cieran." Before I could even try to disentangle myself from Rane to stop her, she leaned in and pressed her lips against my cheek. Distraction completed as I felt my skin burn, she promptly yanked the band out of my hair to release the pony-tail before thoroughly ruffling it all over my eyes. "I'm still kicking your ass when you wake up, just to be clear boss."

Unable to see much of anything with the black and blue colored curtain in my face, I shook my head around slowly. Given that it now stretched several inches past my shoulders, it took me quite a while with how carefully I had to move so as not to disturb the sleeping lowborn. Eventually I managed to get a glimpse a partial glimpse of Illyan's smirk before she turned and headed for the kitchen.

Satisfying myself with mental images of beating her smug look off her face with my cane, I forced myself to relax once again as another yawn forced its way out. I could hear her making tea in the background, though she kept everything as quiet as she could. I remember feeling vaguely thankful for her consideration as I fell asleep with my head slumped over, resting on Rane's.

I think I woke up a little when Voya returned to the third floor. At least, I had an impression of Voya without her helmet on shaking her head at the sight of us as she sipped a drink.

I woke up for good when said Quarian, but now with a partial mask that covered her nose and mouth, carefully nudged my right shoulder. She continued to do so when I flinched and closed my eyes against the glow from her omni-tool. Gentle nudges turned into insistent taps as I kept my gaze shut, and then a light punch made me grunt and finally open them again.

It took me a few blinks to adjust, apparently someone had turned the lights to dim which made the floating screen all the more blinding.

_You need to wake up, there's a situation._

Of course there fucking was. First nightmare free sleep I'd gotten in a week... "You and Illyan can handle it. Kill them if they keep being a situation."

My eyes had barely closed before she hit my shoulder again, forcing me to again read what she'd typed. _It's not locals. Trisren called, she said she needs to talk with you. Now._

Athame's fucking azure... grimacing at the very idea of getting up, I glanced down at Rane. At some point she'd stretched out, leaving her head in my lap and facing my stomach while the rest of her was sprawled across the couch. Which at least explained why the omni-tool's light hadn't woken her up.

Fully expecting her to awaken, I carefully lifted her torso enough to slid my legs out from under, only to be surprised when her breathing remained low and steady in sleep.

Voya surprised me further by clicking her omni-tool off and actually taking my right arm in her hands, helping me to stand unsteadily as my back cracked. The Quarian kept pace as I shuffled towards my bedroom, my pace only slowly increasing as I tried to make my body wake up.

"She say what about?" I kept my voice low.

Her head shook, a long finger pointing at Illyan's door as we approached it before shaking again.

"Didn't tell Illyan either huh." I could only groan, "Mind if I see your omni-tool, need the time."

Orange light blazed into existence once again, half-blinding me as I found the numbers I was looking for. "What in Athame's name... she can't be done meeting with T'Ravt yet. Or it was a short bloody meeting."

Voya's already wide eyes widen further at the warlord's name.

"Oh right, didn't tell you yet." I gave her the quick notes version of what had happened during Trisren's visit, the silent woman nodding slowly as I did so. She did turn away politely when I entered the passcode to our room, but still followed me inside. Which was rather rare, she normally kept her distance whenever 'official' conversations happened between Tris and I. Which was why she'd been downstairs working on her Viper rather than playing cards with us.

Grabbing my cane from its spot near the door, I let the tool help me accelerate until I collapsed into the chair in front of my desk.

A few more covered up password entries later had a call waiting on Tris, the speakers crackling to life as she answered.

" _MacKeanen."_ Full fake last name, not a good sign. " _Are you presentable?"_

I could only blink. What kind of fucking question was that? "Am I ever?"

" _Do you at least own... Athame, no you don't. Get showered, have someone clean your armor up and then I need you at Afterlife."_

This time I exchanged a glance with Voya, who looked even more confused than I did. "Tris?"

" _Don't argue with me Kie. Who are you bringing with?"_

If it was official, that more or less meant Rane. But given that she was still passed out... "Voya, Tris, a reason would be-"

" _The bouncers will expect you in your armor, with your cane, and a Terminus Quarian in tow. You've got one hour so fucking move your pale ass."_

The line cut without another word.

"Fuck you too." I muttered. Still, she hadn't used either pass-phrase she'd given me if she was under duress, so this probably wasn't a trap. More likely it had just gone to shit and she needed us there to come up with a new plan or something.

And maybe Athame would appear in person and make my migraines go away. "Sorry Voya, she didn't give me time to ask you."

The Quarian simply shook her head and shrugged.

"Head down and tell Illyan to close the store, not leaving her alone with Rane asleep. If the two of you could get my and your armor cleaned or something..."

She nodded, sliding out of the room as I groaned and started looking for clean clothes. Ten minutes later I was showered, my sopping wet hair again tied back, and had silently padded down to the second floor. Once I got there, and had made sure that both of the airtight doors were shut behind me, I joined Illyan and Voya in quickly working on the various pieces of armor.

Although really, there wasn't much we could do. Keeping armor clean was one thing, that was an important bit of maintenance, but making it look good was something else. Both mine and Voya's still had chipped paint and scratch marks that we'd never bothered to get rid of, but with our apparently tight time-frame there wasn't anything we could do about it.

Illyan helped us both fit into our bulky plates, promising that she'd update Rane whenever the latter woke up.

I'd yet to actually go to Afterlife, I preferred keeping as low a profile as possible for an arms dealer. Also, I hated waiting in line, and from what I'd heard it was not uncommon to be kept waiting for four or five hours before being let in, assuming that you were let in at all.

And that was just during the slow shifts.

Trying not to lean too much on my cane, I led Voya outside before turning towards the nearest taxi depot. Handing the Talon guarding the aircars a few credit chits, the Turian female politely waved us to a vehicle after asking when I thought we'd be open again. Assuring her that it wouldn't be more than a few hours, I drew a confused look from my companion when I held the vehicle's door open and didn't climb in until she had done so.

A silent ten minute ride later deposited us into... well, into the same area that you could visit with Shepard in the second game.

My memories were increasingly hazy, but there was still the same nostalgic familiarity that I'd felt in area around Eternity on Nos Astra.

Of course, I didn't remember the game having a line that stretched from the club's entrance and vanished down a side tunnel. Or for said line to be patrolled by very heavily armed Asari, all of whom were wearing bulky, practical armor.

I didn't realize that I was hesitating to approach the entrance to Aria's lair until Voya subtly nudged me with an elbow, her armored helmet dipping towards the front of the line.

"Right." It was a fight to sound nonchalant. "Let's see what this shit is about."

In the game, there'd been an elcor bouncer. I remembered that much. And I think some Krogan standing guard behind him. They were all still present, but they honestly paled in the intimidation department compared to the tall, blue amored form leaning against the entryway.

"Wow." I couldn't help but mutter, slowing once again as I stared at the figure.

The Asari built exosuit was tall, but its bulk was concealed with sleek lines and curves that made it look like it had just walked out of an Anime. Even the helmet was beautifully crafted to have a fringe much like its wearer, and I'd bet it was actually a useful design feature instead of just decoration. Maybe a heating vent of some kind. Glancing further down, I could barely make out the tiny nozzles of weapons projecting just above its wrists, though they seemed entirely supplementary to the massive heavy machine gun loosely held in both hands.

Its head turned as we bypassed the line, drawing more than a few protests from the crowd as we neared the door.

The elcor shifted our way, the plating beneath my feet actually _trembling_ as the massive alien planted one of its forelegs in demonstration. "Statement. Get in line."

I bowed my head politely, as a highborn should when asking for permission to enter another's territory. "I was told that we are expected."

It took another rumbling step that forced several of the nearer applicants backwards. "Observation. You carry a cane, and are accompanied by a Quarian. Declaration. You are indeed expected. You may enter."

Giving him another nod, and nudging Voya to do the same, I then headed for the doors. The entry hall was more or less the same, mostly seeming to be filled with people trying to sober up a bit before leaving. Bypassing them, and hoping that Trisren would be easy to find, the pair of us continued on and entered the club proper.

Afterlife was... difficult to describe..

For one, it was a lot bigger in person. A _lot_ fucking bigger. Stairwells and ramps led to multiple levels, dancing platforms hung from thick cables, and bars were built into almost every alcove. Deep, pulsating music made my chest vibrate with the force of the beat, and the haze made me glad that I'd taken the extra few minutes to close my armor entirely. Most of the lighting was a dull red, though here and there were bursts of color as DJ's adjusted things to match whatever kind of pace they were trying to set on the dancefloors.

And people were everywhere. Humans, Asari, Turians, Batarians, Salarians... name the species and I'm pretty sure there was at least one representative present. Many were dancing wildly, some danced slowly, more were drinking, others were shaking as they did another hit of their favorite drug, and in some corners I could even make out people very much engaged with one another in carnal ways.

Voya and I were still standing in the doorway when I caught my first glimpse of the Queen herself.

Aria was little more than a distant figure, her personal balcony looming over the largest bar in sight. She had both hands calmly resting on a rail, her white coat gleaming in the light as she surveyed her domain.

"Kie!' I turned, barely able to hear the shout over the music and babble of thousands of voices. "Voya! This way!"

It still took me a few moments to find Dorvahn, the Turian likewise in full armor as he waved at us.

I started moving in his direction, mildly surprised to be bumped as Voya moved as close as she could. Her gleaming eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at me, which made me rethink saying anything. Instead I quickly turned my gaze back to the Turian, rising my voice as we approached.

"Dorvahn! What the fuck is this about!?"

"This way!" He repeated himself with another shout, motioning for us to follow. Ignoring a few more questions that I tried to throw his way, he led us down one ramp, and then another, the Quarian staying tight to my side the entire way. Eventually our friend guided us into a bar that seemed far more subdued than the chaos I'd seen above, the murmur of conversation not requiring screaming just to be heard.

An armored hand rose as he halted, stopping us near a closed doorway. "You're early, good. That gives us a few minutes to go over things."

My own armor creaked as I crossed my arms. "That would be appreciated."

"Don't be an asshole Kie, this isn't the time." His head shook. "Spirits, it really isn't. Trisren is inside, along with the Warlord and her bodyguards. We have a contract to assist her in seizing both the True Sons complex as well as a nearby Blood Pack hanger."

I nodded slowly. "Sounds like that couldn't have gone better. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that she started asking about how good our equipment was, especially when we mentioned a few of the upgrades you've done for us."

I could only groan as Voya brought a hand up to her mask and shook her head. "I'm not lucky enough for her to just want me to verify that your gear is good, am I?"

"You aren't." He confirmed, helmet ducking in something like embarrassment or shame. "A lot of her better teams are still out fighting the Blood Pack, so she's relying on some of her weaker units for the attacks. When Tris told her your normal prices she demanded that we call you here."

It was my turn to bring a hand up to facepalm my helmet. "Dorvahn. Did you and Tris just force me into working for _Yan T'Ravt_ when I'm barely getting any new equipment from Illium?"

"Tris is putting in a priority one call after this meeting. It'll be resolved."

Of course it would. Because the galaxy loved me _so_ fucking much. "Athame's ass... and we're supposed to be all presentable because she wants to talk with me?"

"Be _extremely courteous_ and polite. Treat her like your old girlfriend minus the girlfriend part."

"I get it, I get it." Sucking in a long breath, I shook my head. If I stopped to actually think about this I'd probably have a panic attack. "Just shut up and let us in before I have time to realize what we're doing."

The Turian seemed to regard me through his helmet, but nodded as he turned around, pushing the door open as he led us inside.

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

**Omega – Illium RI pipeline**

_User 1: Hey Sis._

_User 2: Illyan, how's Omega?_

_User 1: How Omega always is. How's Nos Astra?_

_User 2: Quieter these days, like the tide went out with you three._

_User 1: We might be back soon. Tris is trying to setup a deal to knock out the True Sons last base. That just leaves Voya's little missions and then we'd be home._

_User 2: Really? It would be... nice._

_User 1: Erana._

_User 2: I'm fine Ilyan. Miss Ghai helps with... everything. So does Matriarch Aethyta._

_User 1: Yeah, but I'm your sister. I'm supposed to help you dammit._

_User 1: Listen, Cieran is going to try and get me a few days to get home and back. Hopefully soon._

_User 2: You're going to smother me._

_User 1: Will you complain if we're going out to clawball games and eating as much sugar as you want?_

_User 2: Cieran would yell at you._

_User 1: What the boss doesn't know won't hurt him. I'll buy you as much demonjuice as you want. ;)_

_User 2: Well... since you're paying, there's also a few stores I'd like to shop at._

_User 1: I'll let you know as soon as we work everything out. Love you sis._

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 2: The Agreement** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a time skip, during which not much of note happened. We get a little picture of the group at ease, along with Cieran and Illyan plus Cieran and Rane interacting with one another. Near the end of the chapter we finally get to Afterlife, though the Asari warlord that they're meeting with isn't Aria (not yet at least).
> 
> The next chapter will cover the meeting itself plus a bit more of what their lives are like these days. This act won't quite have the same slow build up as Act 1, and the main plot will begin rather quickly.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	20. Act 2: The Agreement

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Agreement**

Yan T'Ravt didn't belong on Omega. Her two Turian bodyguards were a bit well dressed in their off-white armor, but held themselves like most mercenaries that I'd seen.

But T'Ravt was... I wouldn't call her beautiful in a conventional sense. Her face was hard, but there was definite grace to her features. A tiny scar on a cheek, another on her lip, the tiny white lines marring skin as dark as the deep sea. Her body was wrapped in lightweight armor that had obviously been custom fitted for her, protecting her chest and the critical parts of her arms and legs. It also revealed that she was slim, possibly verging on delicate, a thought that was reinforced when she rested her hands upon the table and rose to her feet.

She looked like a warrior queen.

She also looked incredibly familiar, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.

It was... the cheekbones. Something about them reminded me of someone, but nothing came to mind as I drudged through my memory before shoving the impression aside. There would be time to puzzle over that later.

Bowing my head deeply to the left as she stood, I used the motion to examine her weapons. Pistols rode on each hip, they looked like Phalanxes or at least Asari built versions of the gun, and even a glance was enough to tell me that they'd been modified way beyond factory spec.

"Lady Warlord T'Ravt." I forced my voice to remain even and polite as I spoke her language, mentally imposing an image of Nynsi over top of her to make sure I remembered how to speak in the stupid-formal-polite tones. "Rumor discredits you."

"Kie MacKeanen." Her voice was smooth but utterly confident. "Such manners are out of place upon this station."

I tilted my head further and gave her a half bow, "It seems only polite given your stature."

The Warlord let out a quiet laugh. "A human with the mannerisms of a Batarian? You even have the precise motions to show me respect equal to... perhaps the Hegemon himself. This will be interesting, you may sit."

"I would prefer to wait for the Lady Warlord to be seated."

If anything that only amused her even further. "Is that human chivalry I hear as well?"

I merely bowed my head in the Batarian fashion, very much remaining standing while Voya and Dorvahn tried to fade into the background as they moved to stand behind where Tris was sitting.

T'Ravt slowly settled herself back into her chair, hands demurely crossing over one another as she watched me slowly move to the table and seating myself in the open chair beside Trisren. The other Asari gave me a very slight nod of approval before pointedly flicking her eyes to where her helmet was sitting on the table to her right. Grimacing, I carefully reached up and unsealed my own before removing it and placing it aside.

"Manners of two species, but still a victim of Terminus fashion." She was apparently still in the mind to make small talk her head shaking as the tiniest of smiles tugged at her lips. "Although the blue streak makes the fur slightly more palatable, your people are far more attractive when it is short."

"His girl is Batarian." Trisren's voice was far politer than I'd ever remembered hearing it, but it was clear that she wasn't terribly interested in the current topic. "If anything expect him to keep growing it out."

The Warlord remained amused. "You may simply ask for me to get the point, little mercenary. I will not become insulted if you do not wish to banter."

My friend didn't quite look convinced, but she nodded all the same. "The sooner we finalize our deals the sooner I can have my people stop doing petty jobs for gangs."

"Our arrangement is largely complete. You still have no interest in assuming command responsibility?"

Tris shook her head slightly. "I lead my team, that's it."

"You are sure?" T'Ravt's pale eyes flicked in my direction. "You do not command him?"

"He's a business partner, not an employee. He came here because you wanted to meet him, and because I asked."

"I see." I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from wincing at the disbelief in her voice. "Then I would call our negotiations complete. Your prices will be met, the contracted end being the seizures of the hanger complex in Gozu and the warrens in Rhu."

"Expenses, death payouts?"

A petite hand waved towards to the guard on her left. "Vathi, please provide the dear Captain with anything further she needs. You have my authority."

It was a clear dismissal that made Tris visibly grimace and a muscle in my cheek twitch. If she tried to make it seem like she had to stay it would more or less fly in the face of our relationship as she'd just said it. Maybe she could have spun it as us being close friends, but I doubted that T'Ravt would let that fly as an excuse to let her negotiate for me.

I could practically see the same calculations, plus probably a few other concepts I couldn't think of, going on in Trisren's head before she exhaled heavily and rose to her feet. "Kie, do you have any other Vipers in stock?"

"Seventeen."

Her eyes flicked to Voya as she grabbed her helmet. "Can you get three of them tuned up like hers?"

I glanced up at the Quarian, who gave a quick nod before lifting a hand and tapping rapidly on my shoulder and making a gesture with one of her gloved fists. Though she still primarily relied on her omni-tool to get complex messages across, she'd managed to teach the three of us some of the Quarian's version of sign language. Mostly short little things that weren't worth wasting the time to put to text.

"Seven or eight hours of work, call it two shifts."

Tris grunted at the translation. "I'll have someone stop by with the payment later today, done by shift one tomorrow?"

"That's fine." Her helmet fell over her face, the visor concealing what I thought was a slightly worried glance before she turned away. The Warlord's guard moved around the table, joining the Asari and other Turian as the three departed the room. There was a brief burst of conversational babble as the door opened, and the silence that fell when it shut was fairly ominous.

I had Voya to thank for breaking it, the Quarian wasting no time in pulling Tris's chair back out and collapsing into it with a clatter. The noise broke me out of the weird funk that Tris's departure had thrown me into, a deep breath clearing my thoughts as I forced my eyes to return to the Asari patiently regarding me.

"What can a simple arms dealer do for a Terminus Warlord?"

Her dark lips curled slightly again. "You are as much a simple arms dealer as your _friend_ is a simple mercenary."

"Others have spread rumors of such things." My head dipped to politely acknowledge a superior's point. "Though primarily concerning myself rather than her."

"Indeed." The Asari's head slipped briefly to the right, her little grin growing when I reflexively increased the tilt of my own to ensure it remained deeper than hers. "Amusing. I hope you are as interesting a person as your puzzle makes you seem."

"I am hardly in a position to describe myself as interesting."

"Modesty... perhaps false, perhaps true?" Her posture relaxed, allowing me to to do the same as she smoothed her facial features. "But it is an enigma to be resolved later. For now we should speak to business."

"Business. I hardly believe that a person such as yourself would require weapons from a small dealer such as myself."

"Weaponry and armor are not what I need. Access to the tech mines you sell, and your services as an armorsmith are of more use to me." Fingers drummed once on the table. "I would prefer to not have to ship equipment here from Xentha or my other facilities. If I provide you with the raw materials from local stock, would you be amicable to install and improve the upgrades?"

I tried not to show my relief at the idea that she wouldn't be pulling from my own limited supplies. The mines were simple enough, they were one of the few things still showing up without any delays. "I have no issues if you don't wish to buy from me. If you could provide me with descriptions of what you would like done, I would be more than happy to provide both material requirements and time estimates."

"Reserve kinetic barriers over critical strike zones is sufficient."

"Not a difficult task, though potentially time consuming depending on what armor you want us to work with."

"As I said, it will be local stock."

This time I couldn't cover the wince.

"You disapprove."

"To speak frankly, lady warlord, local stock is crap. Unless you're buying from Afterlife's district I won't be able to do much with it."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, "Would you recommend that I purchase from you?"

"Of course not. There are several corporations based on Illium who can provide serviceable armor, or as I said, I would suggest buying from the stores nearest to this place."

The Warlord flicked her eyes from me to my companion. "And why would you not suggest yourself?"

It was my turn to drum my fingers once on the desk as her gaze left Voya's helmet to return to me. "With respect, Lady Warlord, I'm sure that you know the full range of products that my store offers and how much we usually keep in stock."

"And thus I would know it to be entirely insufficient for my purposes." Her head dipped politely to accept the point. "Perhaps I wished to see if you would make promises you could not keep."

"I like to believe that I am not so stupid as to do such a thing to someone such as yourself."

There was another almost smile on her face. "A wise decision. I do not care for people who are not honest with me when it comes to their capabilities. Are you familiar with the Vael-Shianni Corporation?"

I nodded slightly. "Specialize in affordable light armor, mostly advertise for merchants and explorers. Rumor says that's just a cover. I've seen some of what they make, seemed reasonable for the price. Not as difficult to work with as some other Asari tech."

From there the questions shifted to the numbers. How many units she was going to provide, how much equipment we'd need to rig backup shielding units, how much time we'd need, and then the normal sticking point concerning prices. Voya ran numbers on her omni-tool as we talked, letting me focus on trying to set some baselines. We had to sleep and I wanted time for ourselves in case anything else came up.

Not that T'Ravt seemed to really mind. Indeed, she remained mildly amused during the entire conversation. Once and a while her head would dip or she'd make a slight motion in the Batarian fashions, seeming to be as interested in how I reacted as to what I was actually saying.

Things didn't become even slightly contentious until she asked for more than just upgrading her people's equipment.

"According to your mercenary friend, you did involve yourself in the fighting not more than a few months ago."

"Not voluntarily." I shifted my posture to one of polite rejection. "We were simply intended to act as a back-line repair and refitting operation, and became involved when the True Sons launched a flanking attack. I have no desire to expose my people to that kind of risk again."

Her patrician features narrowed. "And you would not consider a similar operation again? Even if I personally would ensure your protection?"

Voya kicked me under the table, gleaming eyes narrowing to slits when I glanced her way. It didn't take a genius to figure out her opinion on the matter. And it probably wasn't the best idea to shoot her down entirely., especially given that she actually did seem rather annoyed at my blanket refusal.

" _If_ you do such a thing, and _if_ the operation seems safe, I will consider it." Maybe this time I wouldn't be put in a situation where I was stuck being involved...

The Quarian looked slightly mollified, glancing back at the Warlord as the latter nodded slowly. "Not unreasonable requests. Your rate for such activity?"

"Would be determined by what, specifically, we would be doing." When she simply stared at me for a long moment I sighed and elaborated. "We were paid largely in favors for the last operation, and I'd rather avoid doing that in the future."

T'Ravt nodded slightly. "I see."

For some reason the words struck me as ominous, but she quickly shifted the conversation to the payment we'd need for working her people's armor. There was very little actual haggling, beyond a few token inquiries as to whether or not the volume of work would provide a discount. I was initially open to that, only to change my mind when she made the time-frame clearer. After another quick hour of conversation and having Voya work out the timing we had a rough agreement worked out.

"All right. The first crates of armor will be here in eleven days, upgrades and spare parts a day or so after." I glanced at the Quarian's omni-tool as she held her wrist up, the notes she'd taken glowing in the air. "Another five shipments in total, each showing up three to four Omega days after the last."

The Warlord dipped her head politely. "With your payment being received as you deliver the finished armor. The target end date will be four station weeks from now."

Which would keep us busy through January and probably into February. But it was more than enough work to justify shortening the store's hours down to two, maybe even one shift. And between T'Ravt's forces, Trisren's Blades, and any other mercs she was bringing in, we could legitimately be done on this shithole by March if the True Sons were their usually incompetent selves.

Of course, it left me more or less a contracted employee of one of the Terminus systems Warlords... which was an entirely different state of affairs than having to deal with Nyreen or Bern. The latter was a prejudiced irritation, but I at least had a god idea of who the Talons' leader was thanks to the games. I didn't have any real idea of who T'Ravt was, beyond apparently being far more cultured and polite than I'd have expected.

It was going to be an interesting report for Aethyta if nothing else. And probably a whole lot of shrieking at both Tris and I as soon as she found out.

Oh well, her fault for being out of contact.

"Agreed." I bowed my head deferentially. "I will make sure my people are ready, and will adjust our hours to ensure that we meet your deadlines."

"See that you do, I would prefer not to have to remove you before I discover just what your mystery is." The worst thing about the threat was the entirely matter-of-fact way that she said it. "Additionally it would be pleasant to have a reliable contractor on this decrepit station."

My head tilted a bit further. "If nothing else I would hope to prove true to the agreement we just established."

The Warlord dipped her own chin to her right, a hand rising in a gesture of polite dismissal. "My people will be in contact."

I could only exhale as I stood. "Lady Warlord."

"MacKeanen."

Taking my helmet as Voya rose from her own chair, I gave the Asari a final submissive bow before backing towards the door. Stopping only to pull the armor back over my head, and making sure that it was airtight as it locked into place, we entered Afterlife as Yan T'Ravt calmly watched us depart.

If I stopped moving I'd have to start analyzing, and that wasn't something that I wanted to do in this dive. Nor could I really converse with Voya since anyone wandering past would be able to read whatever she put onto her omni-tool's text screens. She apparently agreed, because she once again was pressing into my side, nodding towards the stairs as we started to move.

We didn't have any problems heading up to the next level, apparently this part of the bar was intended for the more subdued crowd. But the middle of shift one was apparently a hot time to be in Afterlife, because the more energetic partiers had started to spill over from the main level and onto the ramp that would bring us close to the exit.

Voya grew increasingly tense as we took it one step at a time, the crowd parting as much as it could as people realized that we were trying to get through. A few might have shouted crap at us, but I honestly couldn't make any of it out over the damned beat. Still, it looked like we were going to make it to the main floor and the out without incident... up until we got to the top of the stairs.

A small group of humans were blocking our way, all male, all in their late teens early twenties. From the way they were positioned, I guessed that they'd seen us trying to swim up the damned ramp and had shifted to stop us. Fuck, with how long it had taken they'd probably had time to debate it first.

"Look here guys!" The leader screamed in our direction. His hair was extremely long, but his attempts to grow a beard was... rather pathetic. "A bucket and a squint, all cuddled up!"

My cane slamming into the floor in front of Voya's feet was the only thing that stopped her from throwing herself forwards instantly, her torso slamming back against my side as she desperately arrested her momentum to avoid tripping.

Her near flailing made several of the blockers throw their heads back in laughter, the man who'd spoken moving closer to make sure that we could hear his next round of insults. "Awww! Look at the little alien getting all insulted!"

I flicked my eyes between them, not missing the furious glare that Voya gave me through her mask. They were all in loose clothing, no armor at all to speak of. All of them had guns and assorted close combat weapons, though none of that was really worrying to us. The crowd on the other hand, was an issue.

"What's wrong squint!? Can't find the words!"

Oh. Right, idiot was still talking to me. "Move."

His head tilted back in another laugh. "Your fancy armor don't mean crap here alien! Aria doesn't like shootouts in her place!"

One of his partners apparently took that line as a signal, because he pulled something off his belt and stepped up beside the other young man with a wicked grin beneath a pathetic mustache.

Huh. A power armor wrench, heavily modified. Was that a power supply with... oh, you clever little monkeys. "Move."

My repetition drew more cackling, the others closing in. "I don't think so squint! We don't like your kind here! And we ain't never had a bucket girl service us before!"

Kill me, rape her. Usually idiot's plan.

I let out a long exhale, twisting my shoulders a bit to try and loosen them. My normal spars were one on one affairs with Illyan, this was... going to be different.

"Voya." The trembling Quarian glanced at me. "No guns. And mind the bystanders."

She went very still and blinked, doing so again when I calmly shifted my cane out of her way.

And then her gleaming eyes curled, and long fingers seized her blades from her belt.

Idiot leader died first. His own hands were still grabbing for whatever weapon he had on his belt when the first knife cut across his throat. The second cut tore open his left arm as she twisted in that direction, her body bowing sideways like a dancer's so that she could deliver a sharp thrust between his ribs.

He was still in the process of collapsing, blood spraying and spilling from the ragged tears she'd left in him, when the first scream came from the crowd around us. Not that either of us was paying attention to anything besides our opponents, and peripherally each other.

I was still moving towards wrench idiot when she killed her next target, an Asian twenty something screaming incoherently as she sliced his stomach to ribbons with furious motions. How she moved that quickly despite her heavy armor, I had no fucking idea.

My own target had more time to react thanks to my slow speed, his teeth barring in an inaudible, furious snarl as he swung his weapon at me... only to miss wildly as I stutter-stepped to throw off his timing. And then he did something stupid, probably because he was young and dumb. He tried to haul his converted tool up and over his head to bring it down on my skull.

The problem with that plan was that, even before he or someone else, had tinkered with the thing... it was a really freaking heavy piece of metal. Nothing he did with it was going to happen in a hurry, and it felt like I had a year or so to twirl my cane into a two handed grip before slamming the shaft across his face in a baseball motion.

Bits of teeth and blood went flying as he actually spun in place, weapon flying from his hands as he clutched at his face. Rolling my eyes at his reaction, I gave my walking stick another quick twirl before driving it right between his legs.

Two of his friends rushed me as he collapsed, vomiting through his ruined mouth. One tried to jump over him only to have his feet go out from under him as he slipped in someone's spilled drink.

Which gave me plenty of time to deal with an idiot with a rusting knife. Not bothering to block his attack, I let his wild slash send sparks flying off of my armor before countering. Keeping my cane in both hands, I brought my right hand up and then down, the armored fist wrapped around the grip slamming into the side of his neck.

His knees promptly slammed into the floor as he yowled, but showed some presence of mind to try and get his arms up to protect his face. It might have helped if I'd elected to punch him, but left him wide open when I brought my cane down again to drive the tip into the same spot I'd just hit. Another thrust crushed his throat while he was collapsed on the ground, his body beginning to thrash as he desperately tried to breath.

"MURDERER!" The scream was the only warning I had before the guy who'd tripped tackled me from behind. We slammed onto his still flailing companion, probably making his last moments even worse, before rolling onto the ground as we struggled.

Dark arms tried to wrap around my neck, trying to choke me out despite the armor. Snapping my head back, I felt a glancing impact followed by a yowl of pain, but he kept right on trying.

The armor kept him from actually cutting my air off, but having the neck-guard pressing against my throat wasn't exactly comfortable either. Acting mostly on reflex, I started throwing my left elbow back and into his side, and kept doing it as his shouts grew louder.

I felt his grip start to slacken, readied myself to try and throw him off of me, only for his arms to suddenly go limp. They slid off of me as I rolled away, staggering to one knee as I turned to look back.

Voya was already rising, her dark armor glistening in the lighting as she calmly sheathed the knife she'd just slammed into his heart.

"Thanks."

The Quarian gave a little shrug before glancing around her pointedly.

Groaning, I used my cane as leverage to get up to my feet proper before I followed suit.

The crowd had cleared in a broad circle, leaving us alone with our opponents. Well, now it was leaving us alone with six corpses on the ground, but the original intent seemed clear. A very tiny subsection of the faces watching us were disgusted or horrified, but many were actually cheering or passing credit chits to one another.

"All right, all right!" Someone bellowed, "Make room! Fight's over, you know the drill!"

People began to scatter, conversational babble rising to be subsumed in the still pounding music. Several Batarians in armor bearing Aria's logo elbowed and shoved their way through them as they did so, with one of the males stepping over a leaking corpse to regard the pair of us with each set of his eyes.

"About time one of our people took these True Son rejects out." His head dipped politely to the left as his gravelly voice shouted thanks, "But did you really have to make such a Pillars damned mess?"

I tipped my own helmet to the right in deeper measure before turning my body to face Voya. "My companion enjoys her knives."

Dark eyes narrowed at the language I spoke in, and my assumed superiority. "Who you think you are?"

Athame save me from other people. "It doesn't matter."

Lips peeled back to show his teeth, head turning to the right in challenge. But before he could open his mouth again, someone else stepped out of the crowd, her voice rising to be clearly heard. "He's Reyja'krem. Show respect before he has his Quarian tear your heart out and show it to you."

"Reyja... there's _two_ of you on..." He visibly swallowed anything else he was going to say before bowing and twisting his head left. "Forgive my challenge, Reyja'krem."

"It's fine." I dipped my head politely to the right, mostly for the sake of his comrades who had all shifted theirs left at the news. When I spoke to the woman who'd spoken, I tried to make my extreme irritation with her revelation clear. "Reyja'krem Ayle. I didn't expect to see you here."

Like me, the female Batarian was fully armed and armored up, though her equipment wasn't coated in blood. Her voice was amused as through her helmet's speakers. "You should have. Who else would your new employer higher to help deal with problems?"

"The Silver Blades."

Her body shook a little in displeasure. "That damned Asari friend of yours again? Still.. she's not hopeless at least. Come, take your dues from the dead. We can talk at your place."

Oh, right. Looting. Turning away from her, I glanced around on the ground before locating the makeshift weapon that had caught my eye earlier. Making sure not to limp even slightly, I shifted over to grab it, heaving the heavy thing up and onto a shoulder before heading back.

Voya fell in beside me once again, though she avoided literally being up against my side this time. I was mildly thankful for that, I didn't need even more blood on my armor.

We didn't have any problems following the other Reyja'krem outside, people giving us a very wide berth as the three of us made our way back towards the taxi depot that had originally deposited us here.

"That was quite the little show." Ayle spoke after a few minutes of silence, her voice turning amused. "A good start to Afterlife's day."

I grunted. "How many times that happen in there?"

"I'm sure there will be five or six more before the fourth shift ends." Showing a bit of multiculturalism, she gave me a little Asari shrug to her left. "It's Omega, people here like to fight."

"I've noticed."

She seemed to actually grow more amused. "Not going to confront me about telling everyone in earshot that you're a Reyja'krem?"

"I was holding off until we got back to Ironhold."

"Where you can invite me inside politely and then have your beast of an Asari pummel me? No thank you."

Sighing, I could only shake my head. "It was worth a shot."

"Knew it. Let me think... you'll have to change your armor, and all of your companion's equipment. Or the paint style at the very least. And you will probably have to stop using the cane." The Batarian highborn hummed. "I suppose I should apologize for that, from one Reyja'krem to another."

"It was the first thing that you thought of?" Her embarrassed silence answered that. "Knew it."

"I did say that I will apologize. Formally even."

I blew out a breath as we approached the aircars, slowing to a stop beside it. Waving for Voya to go ahead and get in, I turned to face Ayle. "All right. Pillar of Unity."

Her head dipped a few hairs to the left. "A favor. A minor thing to repay for minor irritations."

"Agreed. You still stopping by.. when was it, day after?"

A hand rose to tap her head. "Shift three, day after tomorrow. Krogan tried to tear my head off, just want the plates looked at."

"Easy enough." We exchanged polite nods. 'Thanks and not thanks for the save."

"You are welcome and my apologies once again."

She stepped away, not quite turning her back on us until I clambered into the aircar and got it started. Friendly words or not, she trusted me about as far as I trusted her... so not all that much. Of course, I had less leverage given that she knew exactly who I was and could tell anyone whenever she wanted to. For more fun and games, Ayle seemed to be more than aware of that, though so far she hadn't tried to use it as leverage.

Which was good. I didn't want to have to fight her, or have Trisren go after her, which I was pretty sure what the result would be if Aethyta found out about her period. Much less if she found out I was actively being blackmailed.

Voya had already laid in the course for home, waiting for me to pull the harness around my chest before activating the autopilot. As the vehicle lifted off and headed for the traffic stream, she brought an arm up and flicked her omni-tool to life.

_You let me kill them._

I blinked at the words. "They wanted to rape you. Of course I let you kill them."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. _I had my doubts when you stopped me at first._

"All they'd done was insult us. Whatever, they were idiots and idiots say stupid shit." I held my right hand up with the palm down. "Then they went too far."

_I see._ Fingers flexed a bit, sending flecks of drying blood onto the flooring. _You are growing increasingly tolerable Kie._

"I always aspired to be that. My life is nearing completion."

_You are less tolerable now._

"Damn. Opinion on T'Ravt?"

A slim shoulder shrugged. _Much like what rumor ascribes. She believes herself to be cultured and expects honesty and decorum, you seemed to handle it well. Better than I would have if I could speak. I kept wondering when she would shut up._

I couldn't help but snort. "Remind me not to bring you with on negotiations again."

_As if the giant bosh'tet would do any better._

"Still holding a grudge about your hair I see."

_She almost set it on FIRE. Are you going to let me-_

"No."

_-But-"_

_"_ No, Voya. She's a tit but she's still a friend. You can't cut her fringe off."

_I don't want to cut it off, just-_

_"_ You can't set it on fire either."

_You are no longer tolerable._ There was a quiet huff, blood soaked arms crossing her chest before she pointedly turned her head away.

"I'm closing the store for all but shift one." Which was Illyan's shift. Meaning that no one but her would have to deal with customers. "Through the contract with T'Ravt."

Her omni-tool was open in a second and a half. _Have I told you that you are my favorite human today?_

Snorting, I half closed my eyes and settled back in the chair, trying not to think of the screaming young men that we'd just left dead on Afterlife's floor, trying not to think of the fact that I was partially working for a Terminus Warlord, trying not to think of how much Voya had enjoyed what we'd just done...

Dammit. I was getting drunk tonight, after today... I needed it.

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 3: The Slavers**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	21. Act 2: The Slaver

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Slaver**

The pounding on the fucking door wouldn't stop. Next to me, my lover let out a long groan of her own as the noise roused her, her body trying to bury itself further beneath the blankets as if that would help make the pain stop.

"Fuck off!" I didn't really care _who_ was out there, all I cared was that my brain was trying to burst free from my skull each time they hit the goddess damned door.

Whoever it was mercifully stopped knocking, letting me slump back into my pillow as I tried not to whimper in relief. Holy fuck. That was the last time I ever mixed Thessian brandy with Illium White. And hadn't I had a beer or two... that sounded right. I think.

Ugh. Most of the last shift was a blur. I remembered getting back to our place with Voya, remembered bringing Illyan and a tired but awake Rane up to speed on everything that had happened, and there being a unanimous vote that drinking was required. And I had vague recollections of Voya and Illyan trying to fight but mostly just falling on their faces. After that... I'm pretty sure that Rane and I had had _very_ drunken sex, my neck certainly felt like we had at least.

Before I could even think about trying to fall asleep, the Athame cursed door slid open so that light could launch an assault on my eyes. I had the briefest glimpse of who'd hacked the thing before I had to snap my eyes shut against the glow.

"Voya! Light!"

Everything went dark on the other side of my eyelids. Which was awesome.

A three fingered hand nudging my bare shoulder was less so. "Voyaaa.."

The Quarian wasn't apparently in the mood to show all that much mercy, because a moment later my cheek stung from an annoyed smack.

Shoving back fantasies of a very justifiable homicide, I cracked an eye open to glare at her.

Gleaming eyes glared right back at me. She wasn't wearing even a half-mask like she normally did, which let me see the way her lips were twisted downwards in displeasure. The normally gray skin around her wide eyes was almost black, which I thought meant that she hadn't gotten much sleep. Or that she was as hungover as I was.

Blowing out a long breath I tried to fight back a groan. "Let me guess. Emergency?"

Her short, spiky hair moved as she shook her head. And then again when she nodded and tapped the center of her chest.

"Not an emergency but is for you..." Taking another deep breath, I tried to make my brain actually work. "Hungover Voya."

She actually stomped a foot on the ground in annoyance, rolling her glowing eyes back before reaching up for her neck and mimed something being wrapped around it. She followed that up with a slashing motion across her throat.

Something on her neck, someone dead... it took me another twenty seconds or so before I managed to work it out. "That slaver did something?"

Her head shook again, hand rising in a fist.

"Zero? Oh. Fucking seriously? _Now_ he doesn't have any slaves in stock?"

A tight nod.

"Athame's fucking azure." Closing my open eye, I kept struggling through the logic chain. "Fuck. Not a good time for it. But been months. Fuck. Time.. timeframe."

Voya tapped my shoulder again, waiting until I had forced my eyelids apart enough to see her before making a quick series of gestures. It did make me relax slightly, but only slightly. "You sure we have that long?"

Arms crossed her petite chest as her foot started tapping again.

"What time is it now?"

Another quick sign told me were in the middle of the second shift.

"All right all right. We'll get up and shower, you get Illyan up." I started to turn to Rane's huddled form before I remembered to correct myself. "Wait, wake Illyan up _without_ hurting her."

The Quarian rolled her eyes but spun on a heel and headed out of the room. I felt safe in my assumption that she was also badly hungover when she staggered when she tried to turn, reaching out to a wall to keep herself upright. She took a moment to collect herself before vanishing down the hall...

"...leaving our door wide open." I could only groan, rolling onto my side and sliding an arm around my lover's very bare waist. "Rane."

"I heard." Her voice was muffled by her pillow. "Have to?"

"We _did_ promise her."

The lowborn merely groaned and tried to press her back into my chest. "Why did I let you talk me into drinking?"

"Because you get very aggressive when you're drunk." I covered up a yawn by pressing my mouth into the back of her neck. "And you forget your level entirely. Never heard some of the phrases you used to describe Shaaryak before."

"Pillars... be merciful and crush this one.." She tried to bury her face further in her pillow, groaning in protest when I used my grip on her waist to pull her back. "Did I really?"

"I.. think so? Bit hazy."

There was another groan. "Can we just... shower and pretend I didn't lose myself?"

Smiling slightly to myself, I kissed the back of her neck before turning and grabbing my omni-tool from the nightstand. A bit of painful brightness, followed by a few commands, had the door shut and the password scrambled. Though the latter was mostly for the principle of the thing, I didn't doubt that Voya could slice through the new one if she really wanted to.

With the light no longer assaulting our eyes, I managed to slowly coax her into getting up. Of course, that meant that I also had to do the same, both of us wincing and groaning as our bodies protested the movement. Grabbing clothes, we shuffled into the bathroom to shower together. Any other day and more might have happened, but with how difficult it was just to remain standing we restricted our activities to getting clean.

"Pillars.." Rane groaned as she inspected the right side of my neck once we were done and at least partially dressed. "I really was the aggressor."

I let her fingers gently turn my head around, another sound of displeasure escaping her as she saw the relatively unmarked skin on that side. "Rane, I really don't mind if you take the lead once and a while."

"Cieran, this isn't just being... in control, your neck is... Pillars." My lover turned away, pulling open cabinets, eventually pulling out a small jar of salve and a roll of white bandaging.

"That bad?"

"We should... probably check the sheets for blood."

Definitely a first with her. I wasn't a stranger to being a bit roughed up after being with Nynsi Shaaryak, but Rane was normally a more... relaxed lover. I tried not to wince as she carefully tended to my neck and shoulder, and tried not to wince again when I saw the bruises I'd left on her in return. It didn't like look like I'd broken through her tough skin anywhere, but she was definitely going to be sore for a while.

"Are you all right?" I quietly asked once she was done with me, and had pulled a shirt on over her head.

Her skin flushed a little as her lower eyes turned to stare down at the floor. "I'm rather mortified, Reyja'krem. And hungover. And sore. But mostly mortified."

Sighing, I reached and grabbed her waist, pulling her close and letting her press her face against the not-wounded side of my neck. "I'm not upset Rane."

"But it was... I mean..." Warm breath hit my skin as she exhaled. "Even uninhibited I should not have gone so far."

"Rane..." I shook my head very slightly, a hand sliding to the small of her back while the other rose to gently touch the tense muscles further up. "It's all right."

"Reyja'krem, this isn't being a little bold or you letting me take the lead, your neck is...ah.." Her words cut off as I carefully grabbed the back of her neck, nudging her head back enough to where I could lean down and kiss her. There was the briefest of protesting noises before I felt her press closer, fingers lightly grabbing my shirt as we slowly made out.

Eventually we had to break part for air, our foreheads resting against each other as we breathed.

"Rane, I'm not upset. It's all right."

She let out a quietly whistling sound as she exhaled. "Do you intend to quiet me in that way if I protest yet again?"

"Only if that is what my lover wishes."

There was the tiniest of twitches in her lip. "Reyja'krem, your neck is-"

My lips were pressing against hers before she could get out another word, her chest vibrating with a very pleased sound when my tongue slid into her mouth. Her warm, earthy taste filled my mouth as the kiss deepened and lengthened, not stopping until she had to pull back with a soft gasp.

"You forgive me too easily, Reyja'krem."

"Probably." I gave her a final soft peck on the lips before stepping back and covering my mouth as I yawned. "Come on, we should get out there before Voya breaks the door down."

I half expected her to be pounding on our door again, or pacing the hallway. Instead we found her in the kitchen, already having several cups of tea lined up on the counter while she busied herself making yet another. Next to each mug was a bottle of water and a pair of small pills that I recognized as lightweight painkillers.

Rane nearly walked into my back when I had to stop, trying to wrap my brain around the sight of Voya being... _domestic._ And _thoughtful._ When the lowborn touched my arm in question, I stepped aside to let her move forwards... only to likewise stop in place and simply stare in confusion as both sets of her eyes took in the sight.

For her part, Voya seemed startled that we were already awake. She quickly covered her surprise by crossing her arms and glaring at us in turn, daring either one of us to comment.

Knowing better, I simply shook my head and shuffled over to the counter and grabbing a stool to sit on. Even better, the tea was high quality stuff from Bekenstein, not the crap I usually forced myself to drink. The pleasant herbal smell did wonders at making me feel less like crap, and I felt my hangover draining away as I drank the stuff. While the pair of us downed painkillers and caffeine in equal measure, she finished making her own drink before moving to setup a small tablet on the counter's surface.

 _We have a limited window according to his extranet page._ The screen glowed as she tapped out her words. _He currently only has one slave in residence, to be sold during the fourth shift. He expects to have more stock arriving late tomorrow, with possible deliveries a few weeks out._

I grunted, setting my empty mug aside before grabbing my water. "So we have a local day window to work with."

 _Theoretically._ Her fingers paused. _Will you be good to participate?_

"Why would I not be?"

Her wide eyes pointedly flicked to my neck. _Do you have a fetish or something?_

Rane's skin darkened significantly, and I felt my own skin flushing a little. "Batarian skin is thicker than a humans."

 _Ah._ The Quarian's cheekbones actually shifted from gray to something closer to black before she seemed to shake herself. _The mission. We still don't have much data on his base, and I didn't see much beyond my cell._

"So we know the front entrance, which is guarded by those custom mechs." I took a swig of water before continuing, "And that front room with what, six cells?"

Voya nodded. _Plus the door leading to what I think are his personal chambers. I have our base map here._

Long fingers shifted the tablet so that we could see what she'd sketched out, a simple wireframe blueprint showing what we knew. It really wasn't all that much. Besides our own memories, all we really had to go on was the size of the building and the size of his neighbors, and then theorizing how much space he might have into the floors above and below him.

"We know there's that water treatment plant below the market." Rane murmured, reaching out to tap the image thoughtfully. "Aria's people run that, so I don't think he could use it for anything."

"Escape route maybe."

She nodded slightly. "Possible. Probable. What about the space above?"

 _He could easily afford it, with how much he charges for his services._ Voya's lips scrunched in displeasure, showing her sharp little canines. _On paper another slaving group owns the space above him, but it is certainly possible that he simply pays them to maintain that fiction._

"Gives him a lot of space. He have any assistants?"

"Does who have what?" All three of us glanced over as Illyan shuffled out of the hallway, her scalp still wet from her shower. "Wait, is that tea?"

"Our old friend Shith, and yes."

The Asari let out a lustful groan before nearly lunging for the cup, and the two plain pills next to it. She took a long gulp before letting out a strangled sound, her throat working as she forced herself to swallow. "Athame's ass, I thought you threw out this crap boss! And it's fucking ice cold too, did you bother to even _heat_ it?"

Voya looked more than a little pleased with herself as Rane groaned and I sighed. "Voya made the tea. Be glad she didn't poison it."

"This shit frozen _is_ poison. I said I was sorry about the fur thing didn't I?"

_You did. Once you finish your tea, I will have forgiven you._

Illyan could only gape at her. "You..."

"Illyan," Rane schooled her features into immobility, even as her dark eyes split between her and Voya. "Surely you would not be so rude as to throw out the tea that Voya _so kindly_ made for you, especially in light of your past actions."

"Boss!?"

"This is between you and her, don't drag me into the water too."

The big Asari grimaced, glancing down at her cup and then at Voya. "I'm starting to not like you."

 _How will I ever survive?_ The Quarian actually mimed swooning.

Rane smothered a grin while I barked out a short laugh.

Illyan growled. "Fine I'll drink this crap so we're even. But this means war, you know that don't you?"

_I was unaware that we were ever at pace._

While the Asari hyperventilated in preparation for downing the disgustingly cold tea, I tried not to smile as I turned back to Voya. "Back on topic, did you see any assistants?"

_Not that I saw, nor have we seen any come or go. Do we still go with our original plan?_

I tried not to grimace. The plan we'd come up with when we'd first sat down to tackle the idea of killing Shith was... well, it was a plan. I just wished that I could say it was a good one.

Three of us would have our armor painted in haphazard grays would cover up the usual plain black, and we'd exit the store through the utility access on the first floor so that no one saw us leave. We'd emerge on the floor below us and head over to the slave markets, escorting Voya as if she was a slave. The goal would be to act as if we were irate former customers heading to confront him about the shoddy job he'd done retraining her, and to shout that very publicly when we confronted his mechs.

He'd either be stupid, and let us in, or be smart, in which case we'd play the aggrieved pirates and blast the machine guards. From there, Rane would use Voya's hacking algorithms to get inside. If he'd been an idiot, which we didn't really expect, we'd simply execute him and then depart after a short period of time to make it seem like we'd reached some kind of settlement. If he'd been smart, we'd either have to hack our way into his rooms or blast the door down... but we really didn't have a plan beyond finding and killing him.

There could be mass effect barriers like he'd had on the slave doors, physical doors that couldn't be hacked, Athame alone knew how many more mechs, and that wasn't even considering his own skills which we had no idea about. And that was all assuming that he was trapped inside without a way out.

"Athame's fucking azure!" A cup slamming onto the counter broke my musings, Illyan almost retching before grabbing her water and downing half of it in a matter of seconds. "That's... fuck!"

"You'll live." I shook my head before sighing. "Rane, you have any thoughts on this?"

The lowborn bit her lip, leaning forwards a bit so that her lower eyes could focus on the tablet while her upper set lidded in thought. After a long few moments she shook her head, dipping her head apologetically to the left. "I'm sorry Reyja'krem, but I don't see how we can do anything else with just the four of us. All indications are that he never leaves, so we cannot simply lure him into the open and allow Voya to utilize her sniper rifle. We have to go in."

Dammit. "Illyan? You have any ideas on this?"

Said Asari stopped chugging her water, swirling the last bit in her mouth before swallowing. "Sorry, missed most of the conversation thanks to that shit I just had to drink."

Sighing, I waved a hand at the tablet. "Going after Shith. We have an opening. Thoughts on our old plan?"

"Oh, that crap. Well... guy seems like a slasher eel to me. All tucked into his hole but ready to lash out and bolt at the slightest opportunity." She gave a little Asari shrug. "I think the plan can get us in without the crowd trying to drown us, but I don't think we'll catch him inside."

Which more or less mirrored my thoughts. "We can't bring in Tris, can't risk her cover. Calling Red or Ayle would defeat the purpose of disguising ourselves."

"Sounds like we shoot our way in and hope for the best boss."

"I agree with her, my Reyja'krem."

I glanced up at Voya, who nodded firmly. _We shoot our way in and make sure we have plenty of charges to blast through anything he tries._

My nose flared as I exhaled. "All right. Rane, Illyan. Could you two go downstairs and start repainting our armor. Urban camo for ours, make Voya's look beat up and ragged. We'll be down to help in a few minutes."

Rane's eyes split between me and Voya, but she nodded before leaning in to brush her lips against my cheek. The momentary gesture complete, she rose and waved for Illyan to follow as the big Asari muttered something about unfairness before they vanished through the airtight door.

Across the counter, Voya crossed her arms and simply stared at me.

"If he bolts, we might not get him." Her large eyes narrowed slowly to irritated slits. "I'm not saying that we won't chase him, but the potential is there. You know that, right?"

Her grey chin jerked slightly in a nod before she grabbed her tablet again. _I'm aware. You are holding to your word by helping at all, if he escapes then I will simply expect you to continue helping me hunt him._

"Which I will." My fingers drummed once. "But there's another thing I want you to remember. I care more about Rane and Illyan's lives than I care about your revenge. Fuck. At this point I care more about your life. If anyone is seriously in danger, I am pulling us out. Even if I have to reel you in from the waves to do it."

Lips pulled back to show her ivory teeth. _If I have that creature in my grasp I am not letting him go._

"If you have him in your grasp and Illyan is bleeding out, you will fucking let him go and help us get her to a medic." I snapped back, my own eyes narrowing. "The same goes for Rane, for you, and for me. We can always track this asshole down again, we can't bring people back to life."

_And if I take the time to kill that thing instead? You'll shoot me?_

"No, but you won't be welcome back here anymore." A long exhale made my chest move. "Dammit Voya. You're getting close to being someone I think of as a friend, and I get that this guy doesn't exactly deserve to still be breathing, but we have the contacts to find him again if he bolts."

Her fingers drummed on the counter for a few moments before she resumed typing. _Would you shoot me if I put any of you in danger while trying to kill him?_

There was a sinking feeling in my chest as I breathed. "I'd rather you didn't put me in that situation."

_Don't dodge the question. Would. You. Shoot. Me._

I took another long exhale and met her wide eyes. "If you made me choose between your revenge and Rane or Illyan's life? Yes. I would. I'd feel like a piece of shit for doing it, but I would."

The Terminus Quarian stared back at me before nodding slightly. _You really care about them._

 _"_ You are included in them."

_I thought you were avoiding trusting me until after this._

"I have a problem with trusting people too easily apparently."

 _Apparently._ Her head tilted to one side as she seemed to think, her white hair shifting with the motion. _I will... do my best to remember that not killing him today will not cause the galaxy to end Cieran._

My lips twitched slightly. "Done with the polite fiction that you don't know my name?"

 _It wasn't difficult once I realized that 'Reyja'krem' was a title and not a term of endearment._ Voya's eyes stayed on mine for a long moment before glancing away. _I also found documentation from two separate hospitals on Illium listing Cieran Kean as a known sufferer of Floating Mind. Usually caused by traumatic mental assault by an Asari. You were telling the truth._

"Surprised?"

_….Yes. I guess you really do know what it feels like._

"Voya, I don't compare what happened to me with what happened to you. I don't have to live with the memory of the actual event for starters."

 _Be thankful for that._ Her petite chest heaved as she let out a ragged breath. _Promise me that we will find him if he escapes today._

"I already gave you my word that we'd help you kill him."

 _You did._ I could hear the material of her suit flexing as her hands tightened into fists before relaxing. _You did._

I nodded before waving a hand towards the hallway. "Go grab your mask, we've got crap to do if we're going to get this guy."

She nodded determinedly, shutting her flat computer off before tucking it under an arm and heading for her room. I watched her go for a long moment, vaguely hoping that she'd meant it when she said that she'd try to avoid going totally insane today, before turning towards the door and heading downstairs.

The remainder of the second shift and all of the third vanished as we prepared. Armor was repainted, jagged grays replacing the matte black on three suits, while Voya's was done up in a dull, rust covered brown. She and Rane added more cosmetic touches to try and make it look far more low quality than it actually was, though how well that would hold up I didn't know. While they were busy painting, Illyan and I started hauling out the extra gear we'd need for this.

Small boxes of high explosives were carefully removed from their cases and prepared as shaped charges. Each of us would be carrying two of them, which was definitely overkill but none of us wanted to end up stuck beyond a mass effect barrier or locked doors. I didn't doubt for a second that Shith had friends, or at least allies, who'd be willing to kill trapped intruders for him. Assuming he wasn't capable of doing it himself.

Once we had our extra equipment checked out and our armor reconfigured, we spent a bit of extra time rechecking our guns before settling down to wait until Voya's watchdog program confirmed that the last slave had been sold.

Rane tucked herself against my side as we sat on the floor, tuning out Illyan's teasing about the bandages on my neck as the Asari and I played a card game. For her part Voya spent most of the first hour pacing irritably, eventually coming over to join us on the ground after Rane pointed out that she'd be better off relaxing as much as she could now.

"Matriarch's Council." I could only throw my cards down with a groan as Illyan grabbed the bolts we were 'gambling' in lieu of credits. "Sorry boss, just not your day apparently."

"Odds say I'll get better hands sooner or later." Grabbing the flat cards, I started to shuffle them in quick motions. "And then we'll see if you're still grinning fish."

"Bring it furface."

My lover flicked her upper eyes up from her omni-tool as she groaned. "Please, if the two of you must insult one another, be more inventive than that."

Illyan snorted. "He and Trena save the good ones for each other, you know that."

"I do, but-" The lowborn's words were cut off when Voya's omni-tool snapped itself to life and began flashing in alarm.

The Quarian quickly shot to her feet, checking a panel before nodding firmly.

"Right then." Blowing out a breath, I set the cards aside before shifting my feet under me and slowly standing. Reaching down, I waited for Rane to take my hand before helping her up as well. "Time to go."

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 4: The Chase** _

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No comm log today, everyone's a little too busy to send messages to Illium. There won't be one in the next chapter either, though I may slide in a short Trena scene.
> 
> Here we begin the first arc in this act, helping Voya get her revenge on one of the guys who helped in her enslavement. Things will get very interesting over the next couple of chapters, expect quite a few things to happen. Hopefully Voya will remember that being alive is important.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	22. Act 2: The Chase

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Chase**

We entered the slave markets in tight formation.

Illyan, playing the bossy Asari pirate was acting as the lead. Her rifle remained on her back, and she'd added a pair of heavy pistols to her impressive hips for show. Rane and I, playing the Batarian muscle, were moving in lockstep with Voya a few paces behind the big woman. My lover and I both had our weapons drawn, more or less leveled at the Quarian who was keeping her head down as she shuffled along.

We'd bound her hands with the same cuffs that Shith had had her in when we'd 'bought' her, except this time she and Rane had keyed them to a quick release chin button in the latter's helmet. As far as her weapons went, I had her sniper rifle riding on the low of my back, while Rane had her knives in a cross patter on the right side of her belt. While Voya wasn't thrilled to have to wear the stupid cuffs again, or at not having even a basic weapon on her, she'd agreed there was no way we'd look like what we claimed to be otherwise.

For the most part we were left alone as we moved through the various auctions and potential buyers, though as usual a few slavers eyed the Quarian greedily. One or two shouted offers as we moved past, waving their limbs in disgust when we ignored them entirely. Thankfully that seemed to be accepted protocol, because none of them sent goons to shadow us that I could see.

The tension reached its crest when we approached Shith's place, the two heavily upgraded mechs stoically standing guard outside of his door. Both lifted their shotguns in unison as we neared, focusing their aim on Illyan.

"Halt. State your business." The one on the left took a step forwards when we stopped moving, its voice buzzing. "The master expects no clients at this time."

"Returning defective property." Illyan shot back, crossing her massive arms as if irritated that they'd even asked. "Obviously."

The mech didn't so much as twitch. "Identify property claimed as defective."

"The Quarian."

"Analyzing sales records. Last Quarian sold within allowed time-frame was male. No refunds accepted."

The Asari took a half step closer, her arms curling angrily. "Athame's ass. This bitch almost ruined me with the crap she's done."

"That is not the master's problem."

"It _is_ his problem if he's the fucking one that sold her to me! You two, if these circuit-boards don't' open the fucking door in five seconds I want them in Athame damned pieces!" If anything, she seemed to be enjoying channeling Trena. Glad my helmet hid my grin, I shifted my aim to the mech and started side-stepping right, as Rane did the same to our left.

"Hostile threats will not provide you with a refund." The lead mech continued speaking in its toneless voice, but more importantly its gun shifted to track Rane instead of staying on the closer Illyan. "Cease and depart or we will open fire."

Rather than waste her breath responding, dark blue light cascading off of her body as she thrust an already tense arm forwards. A singularity exploded into existence at her gesture, appearing directly between the two mechs and yanking them inwards. The machines had started to yank their triggers at the first sign of her biotics, but the power threw their aim off enough to send both waves of scattershot into the gaps between the three of us.

They never got the chance to reset themselves, Rane and I both hosing them down at full auto from not more than three meters away. At that range it was simple even with my SMG to keep the rounds slamming into its head, both mechs collapsing with clatters seconds later.

Illyan spun in place once she was sure they were down, glaring through her helmet at the passersby who had stopped to view the brief bit of gunfire. "What in Athame's fucking name are you looking at?"

Most of the crowd just snorted, holding their hands up peacefully before going about their business. One, a bearded human, did raise his voice though. "You lot trying to get a refund from that Turian asshole?"

Illyan grunted. "That or put a few bullets in his skull."

The man grinned, "About fucking time someone brought him down, his price gouging is a right pain in the ass to deal with. Luck to you."

She snorted loud enough to be heard, giving him a mildly rude gesture before waving Rane and I forwards. "I'll watch the equipment, you two take the door down."

The pair of us nodded, stepping past her and focusing on the doorway itself. There wasn't a control panel on this side, which was annoyingly smart of him. So blasting our way through it was.

"One pack or two?" Rane murmured as we moved shoulder to shoulder.

"One, don't want to waste these." After all, we really had no fucking idea how many doors we'd have to blast our way through.

The lowborn promptly turned, letting me yank one of the boxy objects from her back. It didn't take us more than a minute to fix it to the center of the door. Once it was in place, she got to work stringing the secondary det-lines out while I keyed the thing to my omnitool, with another minute or two passing before we were quickly backing up.

A nod from Illyan plus a finger flick later had everyone nearby wincing at the heart stopping _crack-thud_ of the explosion. The smoke faded rather rapidly, which gave us a good view of twisted metal where the hatchway had been. What was left of the door looked to be scattered across the entrance foyer, and I couldn't help but grin a little.

I also made a mental note to commend Lorth on his choice in explosives. Personally I still thought that Ratha was the more stable of the twins, but in this case... couldn't complain.

Rane was up and through the entrance first, and I wasn't more than a few feet behind her.

Aside from the remains of the door, there wasn't much to see. The same circular room, the same collection of closed doors, though this time there was a distinct lack of a robed Turian. Illyan and Voya were in a few moments after us, the latter's arms springing free as she irritably threw the cuffs off of herself.

"Which door?" I asked, making sure my mic was set strictly on our helmet to helmet frequency.

The Quarian gestured at the one directly in front of us.

"Grab your weapons, Illyan, need a detpack. Rane, make sure we aren't followed in."

While Voya pulled her gun off of my back before moving over to get her knives from Rane, the Asari and I started working on the next block in the way of our progress.

"That how it feels to be the boss?" The Asari couldn't resist bantering as we worked, stringing the explosives along in the same pattern as the previous door. "Was fun."

"Can't say I think it is." I muttered, spinning up my omni-tool to prime the thing. "Especially with you and Voya around."

"Hn. That would make it less fun."

I could only grunt in quiet agreement, spending a few moments trying to remember how the fuck I'd ended up in this role again. Knowing from unfortunate experience that _that_ particular trip down memory lane would occupy me for hours and require alcohol, I shoved the thoughts aside and tried to focus on what I was doing.

Our host must have been asleep or otherwise occupied, because he apparently only realized that his home was under attack when we detonated the door. From the massive volume of sparks that flew out from the walls, this time we'd disrupted something more than just the sliding metal. Probably a projected forcefield barrier like he'd had over the slave rooms.

 _"Who the fuck do you think you people are!?"_ His voice flanged over unseen speakers, confusion and rage warring for control of his tone. " _I service every major group on this station!"_

Illyan sniggered loudly. "I bet you _service_ them slaver."

I couldn't help but snort as I followed Rane through the hatchway, finding a long hallway waiting for us on the other side. Voya tried to moved up past us, glaring at me through her helmet when neither one of us let her get past.

Shith let out a ragged breath that his microphone apparently picked up, but when he resumed speaking it was in far calmer tones. " _I suppose it doesn't matter, you won't live long enough to regret this._ "

"I'm surprised he didn't cackle evilly at the end." I muttered, slowing as we came to a small T intersection. Both directions lead to a door, not more than a few meters apart. "Rane, Illyan, head left. Voya, we're going right. Careful with the door, don't head past it if there's a way to go on."

"Understood, Reyja'krem." Rane hefted her gun up in acknowledgment before turning away, Illyan following. With her way not blocked anymore, Voya easily shot past me despite her shorter legs, and she was messing with the door's control panel as I caught up with her. It didn't last terribly long against her, the security light flicking from red to blue as the door slid aside.

Voya again tried to rush through the door, stopping only because I had reached out and grabbed the back of her armor. That happened more or less at the same time as something inside caught her with a blast from a shotgun, sending her stumbling back into me as her barriers flashed.

Growling in irrigation at her actions, I hauled her back and around before pushing her against the wall. Her silver eyes were narrowed to slits, but she stayed put when I leaned me head out in a quick glance.

"One mech, shotgun." My skull and its protective helmet had barely ducked back before another round of scatter-shot screamed past. Shoving my SMG onto my belt, I fired up my omni-tool and cycled to me tech mines. A few finger twitches later had an incinerate ready, but rather than fire it I ejected the small disc into my hand. Risking my fingers, I whipped it around the corner and watched my omni-tool.

A few seconds later it flickered as the mine hit something, and I promptly stabbed the detonation key. There was a burst of light and fire, followed by a mech's toneless voice rattling off its damage.

This time I didn't stop Voya as she moved, her rifle swinging around the corner before bucking into her shoulder as she pulled the trigger. The mech had barely clattered to the floor before she was moving again, forcing me to swear and move in after her.

The room was obviously Shith's kitchen, the mech sparking and shuddering on the floor by the fridge. It seemed... like an oddly normal kitchen, not that I really had time to examine it in depth as my companion was already standing in the open archway leading on, her rifle up as she looked to her left.

"Voya, what do you see?"

Her left hand left her gun to make a quick charade-like gesture.

"Got it. Rane, we've found stairs."

" _We found a living area, additional doorway leading to a bedroom. No sign of the target."_

"No other exits?"

" _None that we could see, Reyja'krem. We're heading your way now."_

"Good." I winced as one of Voya's legs started twitching, bouncing up and down in rapid motions as she visibly restrained the urge to simply leave us behind and race after her quarry. "We'll be at the top of the stairs."

Swearing softly as she didn't wait for me to say anything else before bolting up the stairs, I took a deep breath and ran after her. My left leg started to throb about halfway up, something that I really wished surprised me. Sparring with Illyan and stretching was all well and good, but running around in heavy armor was something else. Especially when you fucking added stairs.

The cracking sounds of gunfire forced me to shove the aching aside and redraw my gun, taking the last few steps two at a time as I stretched my legs as far as I could.

I emerged into something like a small warehouse, maybe twice as large as Trena's old shop. There wasn't time to catch more than its rough size and the fact that our local corner was filled with unidentifiable boxes. Voya was tucked between several of them, having apparently just ducked down after demolishing another mech, but there were at least three more firing perfectly in sequence to keep her pinned down.

Not wanting to be exposed to that much firepower anymore than she did, I fired on the move at the rightmost target as I rushed to get myself behind a crate of my own. My aim wasn't stellar, but I kept most of the bursts roughly center mass, orange tracers peppering the thick plating.

The mech easily shrugged off the attack, swiveling its weapon around as its flat voice announced the obvious. "New Target has arrived. Engaging."

My brain didn't quite keep up with events, but I distinctly remember the shotgun flashing orange at the same moment as something slammed into my shoulder and sent me tumbling to the floor as alarms in my helmets shrieked. Reflexes born of too many training sessions on Illium sent me scrambling forwards into cover, eyes flicking around my HUD to get updated.

I had to give it to the asshole, his mechs were packing. My barriers were down to a tithe of their full strength, which really fucking limited my options.

"Requesting permission to advance and eliminate." One of the mechs intoned, their fucking guns shifting between the two of us but still firing with perfect timing. Probably had it down to the nanosecond to insure maximum volume of fire without overheating the things.

"Denied!" Both Voya and I whipped our heads around at the sound of our target's voice. "Hold them off!"

If my companion could snarl she probably would have, eyes narrowing to slits behind her helmet before she bounced up the second after a mech had put a shot over her head. She had enough time to fire off a quick shot before having to duck again.

"Rane, Illyan!" I snapped, trying to will my barriers to recharge faster. "Need some help here!"

" _One second boss!"_ Echos of armored feet hitting the ground started to carry up the stairs, but I had idea how long we had. Or where in this stupid room Shith even was.

Blowing out a breath, I half closed my eyes and listened to the cascading shotgun fire. With their pattern...

Shooting up as soon as a round smacked into my cover, I leveled my weapon at my original target and put a long burst into its already battered chest. Apparently it had also been Voya's target, or my first shots had done more damage than I'd thought. Either way, the mech collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, sparking madly as its speaker let out a piercing wail before cutting off.

Our mechanical opponents reacted as quickly as one could expect, both of them shifting their aim away from my companion and towards me as I threw myself down again.

Both of their guns roared, joined a half breath later with a lighter crack from Voya's light sniper rifle. A second crack followed a few moments, later, and I jerked my head back up in time to see the right most mech dropping.

The last mech seemed to turn back, then pick me up on its sensors. Whatever upgrades Shith had made apparently didn't carry to its targeting algorithms, because for just a few moments, the machine seemed to lock up as it couldn't decide who was the greater threat.

We solved the problem for it, her Viper snapping twice as my Watcher put twenty or thirty lighter rounds into the air. Knowing what was coming, I was vaulting over the heavy box I'd been hiding behind even as the mech collapsed. My knee screamed at the impact as I landed, drawing a few curses from my lips as I tried to get moving before Voya could again race past me.

The adrenaline gave me time to get a good look at the room proper as I managed a few steps. Crates and boxes surrounded the area around the stairwell, with even more piled up against the walls. Ahead and on the left were cages that were very similar to the ones in the markets. There was a good dozen of them in a line, though only two had occupants. I think. The occupants had tucked themselves under blankets and cots, as if that would protect them.

On my right, there was something that looked disturbingly similar to an operating theater, but I didn't have time to really examine it because just beyond that was Shith.

He was frantically bolting armor over his chest, his dark arms looking positively skeletal without any clothing on them.

I don't know what drew his attention, but he threw an arm up as Voya snapped off a shot in his direction.

It looked like an idiotic gesture until orange light flared into existence, the accelerated grain of sand ricocheting off of his omni-shield and into the ceiling.

He didn't waste his breath speaking, instead backpedaling as rapidly as he could towards a thick archway not far behind him. I had no idea where he'd gotten such an expensive, and rare, piece of equipment, but it was easily holding off the both of us as we hammered it with shots.

At this fucking rate he'd... "Voya, his feet!"

The Quarian froze, then dropped to a knee and corrected her aim while I flicked my little gun to full auto. Incidieary rounds hammered at the barrier around his chest and head, forcing him to keep it upright as he took a long step back through the hatchway.

Voya fired as he reached for a control panel, blue and purple blood exploding as she hit him somewhere near his ankle. The flanging howl made my ears ring, the sound cutting off as talons scraped over buttons as he collapsed... the doorway slamming down from the ceiling to cut us off from our prey.

"Shit. Nice shot."

She ignored me entirely, racing towards the door to inspect it.

"Athame's ass!" I turned in place, seeing Rane and Illyan finally emerging, their guns lowered as they took in the strange room. "What in the deeps... he get away boss?"

"Not for long, she clipped his foot." Turning my body, I waved for her to go on. "Illyan, help her with the door. Rane, be a dear and check that console for anything useful."

Both women gave me nods, Rane's more formally polite, before moving past me. Which gave me more time to look around... and to inspect the cages.

Limping to the two that seemed to have occupants, I carefully called out. "You alive in there?"

There might have been a whimper on my left, but on my right a young human man carefully poked his head out from under his cot. He was extremely pale, and someone had shaved all of his hair off, even his eyebrows. Couldn't have been more than... eighteen, twenty, somewhere in there.

His voice was almost painfully quiet when he found his words. "I'm sorry master, but I don't speak the Asari language."

Awesome. I switched to Highborn Batarian. "Do you understand me now?"

He only blinked light blue eyes at me.

"Lowborn Batarian?'

More blinking.

Grimacing, I forced the next set of words out in my original tongue. "What you... _are_ you doing here?'

"The Turian was paid to install a neural lace by my old master, but he died while I was recovering." He seemed to swallow. "He was keeping me here until I was better, then he was going to train me and sell me."

"Won't be happened. _Happening_. Fucking shit." I hissed irritably as I struggled with the proper tenses, forcing myself to speak slowly so as not to fuck up again. "What... about... her?"

"She was his pleasure slave, he was... occupied with her when you attacked." Well that explained why he'd been so slow to react to us blasting his doors apart. "She... um, she isn't..."

"Isn't what?"

"He did something to her. I don't know what you call it, when you make it so she's simple and stupid."

For a very long moment I didn't quite understand what he meant. And then very suddenly I did, whipping my head around. "Rane! I need this fucking cell open now!"

The lowborn visibly started at my tone, but obligingly flicked her way through several control panels before finding the right command. All of the cell door clanked as they swung open, letting me stalk over to where the girl was still cowering beneath her cot.

Grimacing, I went down onto one knee before bending enough to see her. Terrified green eyes stared back at me, and now that I was closer I could hear almost guttural whimpers that drew worse as she tried to push herself as far away from me as possible. The motions drew my attention to her very naked body, especially the open cuts and raw flesh along her sides and between her legs.

"Voya." Glancing up, I found the Quarian quickly working with Illyan to string two of their detpacks onto the door. "Voya!"

She spun around irritably.

"Change of plans. When we catch him, don't do it fast."

Silver eyes widened, then narrowed, rising a hand in a ' _Why?_ ' gesture.

"Come take a look." Her free hand tightened into a fist. "Fucking calm down! He's not making any progress with what you did to his ankle, get your ass over here."

Handing the box she'd been working with to the Asari, the Quarian bounded over in our direction. Ignoring the young man who'd worked up enough nerve to climb out from under his own bed, and proved to be as naked as the girl was in the process, she skidded to stop before gesturing for me to move.

Once I'd forced myself back up and gotten out of her way, she didn't waste anytime being careful or gentle. Instead she simply heaved the cot up and against the wall. The hiding human girl let out an animilistic shriek before scuttling into a corner, curling herself into a ball and whimpering as she hid her head behind her hands.

Fuck. I'd thought her front had been bad. Her back looked like someone had gone after her with a razor. And there were plenty of ridged scars and scabbed over wounds to go with the fresh cuts.

"I'm going through his notes on them, Reyja'krem." Rane's voice was carefully subservient, a tone she only ever used when she knew I was furious about something. "She's... gone."

Voya took another step forwards, reaching out to brush raggedly cut hair aside. The girl whimpered further as we examined the cybernetics and scarring around her temples.

"He's... had her since I got here." The other slave volunteered, trying to wrap himself in a patchwork blanket. "That was weeks ago now."

"Eight months, Reyja'krem." My lover's tone rose and hardened. "And she is merely his most recent."

"Voya. Get back to the door. And remember what I said about slowly."

The Quarian nodded, rising to her feet before pausing. A hand waved at the girl.

"Rane?"

"I... don't think we can help her. I'm not a doctor but he's done extensive work on her brain, and his notes make it clear he considered it to be permanent." Her breath hitched across my helmet's speakers. "She... was trained to offer herself to him whenever he opened her cage. And worse."

"Voya. Door."

We couldn't leave her. With Shith gone, his mechs destroyed, and his doors blasted open it was just a matter of time before people worked up the nerve to come in. She'd be used just as he'd used her, probably even worse when they realized she wasn't in any condition to offer even token resistance.

"We can't take her with us, Reyja'krem." Rane's voice was pained. "She would have to be restrained and carried, and then cared for at all times. With Aethyta not responding, we can't sneak her off station either."

That left only one option.

"Cieran." My lover spoke quietly across our link. "Her body is alive, but her soul was taken to the Pillars a long time ago. All that is left now is pain."

I felt myself still at her words, and then nod once. My gun was still in my hand, which was good. I didn't have to think about drawing it. Bringing my arm up, I centered the small sights into place before closing my eyes.

No.

Forcing them open, I stared at her whimpering, broken form before letting out a long exhale, my finger tensing as I did.

There was a crack, and the whimpering stopped.

"Mother of god... you... you just..."

"She was dead before." I didn't care about enunciating myself at that point. "Shith killed her."

"I... but..." He shut up when I turned my helmet in his direction. "Are...what about... me?"

Glancing past him, I watched as Voya and Illyan finished setting the lines and began backing away from the thick metal.

"Can take chances in markets." From the way his eyes widened he knew how stupid of an idea that was, "Or can follow that way."

"You... would be my master then?" His hopeful toned vanished into panic as I nearly brought my gun up with a snarl. "I... I mean..."

"Follow. Don't get in way." I ground out. "Fumi district has good. Can join Talons. White Tigers."

"N-not y-you?"

Ignoring him, I stepped out of the cell and the curled up body inside of it just as my companions blew the next doorway. The young slave shrieked and dropped to the ground, which would have been a good idea if he hadn't been comically slow in reacting.

Ahead, Illyan had shown sense by snapping a mile-long arm out to grab Voya before she could rush through the smoke, holding the Quarian back as Rane and I moved up to join them. It didn't take long to clear, showing us more shredded metal and a long, badly lit access hallway with gleaming bits of liquid on the floor.

Back to the hunt.

"Rane, take the lead." The lowborn nodded as I worked out who I wanted where... mostly to limited one of us in particular. "Voya, for the love of Athame's fucking azure stay next to me. Illyan, cover our backs."

"What about our new friend boss?" The big Asari spoke as we started moving.

"Make sure he doesn't get in the way." I could feel her disapproving gaze hitting my back as I grabbed Voya's shoulder to avoid tripping over a large shard of doorway. "Fine, point out places where he can take cover and that he keeps up. Rane, you know where this leads?"

"We're moving on an incline downwards, but with the lighting I can't tell how far it goes. I might know when we pass a marked hatch."

We moved in silence for the next five minutes. It grew into ten as we continued to follow the blood, pausing only for Rane and Voya to check side corridors as we past them.

As much as I really, really wanted to kill Shith, I had to give the asshole credit. He had to be in some pretty extreme agony but he'd clearly run as best he could to get ahead of us. The real question was where he was going, and how long his stamina would hold out.

He'd finally taken an off turn when Rane thought we were two levels down, light splatters of blue blood guiding us onwards.

"Hatch ahead." The lowborn reported, slowing from a slow jog as she she shifted slightly out of the way, I grunted at the sight of a closed door marked with graffiti of some kind. Someone had either fixed, or simply avoided breaking, one of the lights to make sure that it was clearly illuminated.

Next to me, Voya went very, very still as she caught sight of it, forcing me to stop and glance at her.

"Voya?" Turning back, I glanced at the image. A gang symbol of some kind, not particularly well done, blue and red paint having dripped as they worked the sigil. "You know that mark?"

She nodded very tightly, bringing a hand up to her neck.

Rane growled. "Is that the symbol of the people who did that to you?"

Another nod.

"Looks like Shith had more to do with them than he let out." I shook my head slightly. "Either way, two fish with one spear. Come on, let's see what's waiting for us."

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 5: The Gang**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah, things are happening now, not necessarily in the best of ways. Still, they at least wounded their target and drove him from his home, though the fact that he fled to the same gang that abused Voya has potential to further complicate things. Made all the more fun with the rather down mental states for everyone save our revenge-obsessed quarian.
> 
> As an aside, I did update my profile a while back with basic character bios for OC's that are introduced in each AR story to help keep all the chars straight. Shouldn't really be any spoilers, just something to help keep all the original characters straight in everyone's heads. I'll be updating it as new "major" characters are added.
> 
> In more good news, I'm finally working ahead again, Chapter 5 is already done and beta'd, Chapter 6 is nearing completion on my end. Usual rules apply, 12 reviews in a day gets the next chapter out the following morning, otherwise expect it on Friday. :)
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	23. Act 2: The Gang

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Gang**

The hatchway opened into a more thoroughly traveled tunnel, probably the area's equivalent to a side-street. Somehow it didn't surprise me to find the ground full of random trash with stains I felt safer in not identifying. Behind me I heard Illyan warning the slave still following us to watch his feet, only for him to remind her that he had no idea what she was saying.

"Boss..."

Swallowing my initial reply, I forced the English out. "Watch your feet."

I barely heard his reply, instead focusing on our surroundings as Rane bent down to check the ground. She shifted left to right, checking both directions as she tried to figure out which way our prey had gone.

"It's difficult to find his blood trail with all of this... wait..." Her helmet lowered further. "Here, fresh clawprints in... ugh, whatever this fluid is. Either there's another Turian without footwear around or he went this way."

It was entirely possible, but I nodded determinedly and motioned for her to resume the lead. We picked up the pace slightly, reaching jogs as our armor clattered. My leg continued to throb with each step, drawing tight hisses as I tried to not reveal that I'd wrenched the stupid thing.

Right when it was finally starting to feel somewhat normal too. Fucking life.

Maybe two minutes was the required time to reach the outskirts of Omega's stereotypical courtyards, the blank walls shifting into something closer to what we'd expect to see near such a location. Just with sealed up walls instead of residential districts, probably protecting machinery of some kind.

I was so absorbed glancing around that I nearly missed Rane pulling up and skidding backwards at a corner before holding up a hand for everyone to stop. "Barricade."

Voya edged her way past me, motioning for the lowborn to pull back. Once they'd swapped placed, she took a quick glance before glancing back at us. The Quarian gave a quick nod, motioning to her throat again before holding up two fingers.

"We need to know about Shith."

She gave another nod before glancing at the three of us. A few moments of thought saw her point a finger at me and working her fingers in quick motions.

"Got it." I grunted, stepping up while I brought my omni-tool online. The launcher on my belt clicked and whirred as it changed it payload, and overload sliding into place as the menu bar finished moving.

Reaching the corner, I watched as she drew her knives before taking a few long breaths. We exchanged a tight nod, and then we moved.

I didn't have to go far, stepping out just enough to thrust my omni-tool forward and trigger the launcher as soon as it had a definitive lock. Both of the guards were Batarian, dressed only in ragged clothing and clutching metal bars while rusted pistols remained on their belts.

Neither of them apparently had civilian shield belts, I knew that because when the blue disc exploded both of them let out pained cries before collapsing as artificial lightning played over them. Voya compounded their misery by savagely kicking their pathetic weapons away before placing both of her knives against their necks.

The rest of us caught up easily, stepping around what looked like a re-purposed aircar door that they'd setup as cover. It might have helped if not for the gaping hole where the window had been, or the torn metal making it clear it wasn't thick enough to stop much of anything.

"What... the..." One of the guards regained his senses enough to moan actual words, all four eyes blinking as he tried to recover. "Who..."

"I'd shut up if I were you." I advised them in Highborn as Voya made the locations of her blades clearer. "Except when we expect answers."

His throat worked as he swallowed, his maroon skin paling to something like muddy water.

"We're looking for a wounded Turian. Did he come through here?"

The former guard nodded tightly.

"How long ago?"

"Five minutes." His lips barely moved, as if he was trying not to risk taking in more air. "Not more than ten."

Not too far behind him then. Good. "You know him?"

"Shith. Slaver. Sell him product the commander finds." There was a tight gulp. "Said he was being followed. Didn't believe him. Yelled at us, limped in to find the commander."

So allied but not so much as to instantly believe his tail of woe. Even better, that meant their base ahead might not be on full alert.

"Everyone armed like you? How many of you are there?"

The Batarian visibly mulled over whether or not to answer, at least until Voya got tired of waiting and shifted all of her weight to her right. His partner let out a strangled gurgle as her blade ripped his airway and arteries open, dark red blood spilling over him as he weakly thrashed.

I felt a muscle in my cheek twitch, but I couldn't exactly yell at her at the moment. "Pillars, Pillars, um.. there's thirty of us, a... a lot of people have armor they took from dead Blue Suns. We... we just joined, didn't earn that yet."

"Defenses?"

"There.. was us. And the other new guys on picket duty." He swallowed again. "Um, that's... that's about it. Everyone else is either in our yard or out watching the other g-gangs. Or... or..."

"Or?" I prompted, my voice lowering. "Let me guess, slave hunting?"

There was another nod. It was the last deliberate motion he ever made.

Voya wiped her knives off on his shirt while he was still twitching, trying to close off the copious tear with his hands as he panicked.

"Voya..." My voice trailed off as she gave me a sharp, and slightly wild, glare through her helmet. "Calm. Down."

Tossing both knives into her left hand, she used her right to stab me firmly in the chest before shaking it in front of me.

"I know I promised to help you kill them, but you could have made it faster. Fuck, they didn't even have anything to do with you."

"I don't think she cares, Reyja'krem." Rane's voice was low as the Quarian turned away, sheathing her blades and clearly ready to move on.

"I don't think so either." I exhaled heavily, but there wasn't much I could fucking do about it. I _had_ been planning on killing the two once he'd admitted that his group went slave hunting, even if I'd thought it would be more merciful than the messy cut that Voya had used. We couldn't have risked them setting off alarms or shouting for help or finding new weapons and attacking us from behind. Or killing the slave still trailing after us like a lost puppy.

Though now I think he was vomiting whatever Shith had fed him, if the sounds were anything to go by.

"Voya, keep your knives sheathed unless you need them." She put them back into place with rather poor grace, but I didn't comment on it as she pulled her Viper off of her back. "If there's thirty of them we have to do this smart."

Illyan snorted as she carefully stepped away from the spreading blood pool. "Four on thirty is never smart boss."

"Fair point." I admitted, "So let's do this at least sort-of intelligently. Same plan as when we fought with the Talons, we grab the first piece of cover we can and try to funnel them in our direction. Everyone keep an eye out for our target, cripple him if you can but leave him for Voya."

The last bit was mostly me trying to bring her a gentle wave, but she did give me a less grudging nod.

"Overloads or incinerates?" Rane asked, her omni-tool already open. "Latter?"

"Latter for you. I'll run with overloads unless we want some more fires going. Illyan, focus on the flanks, don't overexert yourself this time."

"I'm not making myself forcibly celibate again, don't worry about that." The big Asari hefted her gun up, "Being becalmed with only you three for company is bad enough without the ability to give myself a little release once and a while."

My lover groaned as I shook my head. " _Illyan_."

"Not the time?"

"Shut up and move your ass." I moved to forestall any more commentary, stepping forwards as Voya instantly fell in beside me. "Tell us about your masturbatory habits later. Or never."

"Preferably never." Rane muttered, the pair of them quickly catching up.

Whoever was running... whatever this gang called themselves wasn't totally stupid. The pickets we'd killed had been placed a good block down from the opening that spat us into the courtyard proper. If either of the idiots had been able to set off an alarm the rickety sentry post ahead might have been an issue, but instead it proved to have no one at all manning it.

All four of us skidded to a halt as quietly as we could manage, which really wasn't very with our weapons clanging and armor creaking and boots scraping. We were engineers, not ninjas dammit.

"Seems decent enough of a spot to me." Illyan grunted, "Not thrilled about what's behind us though boss."

I wasn't either. If we did have to bolt, dragging a kicking and screaming Voya with us, there wasn't any side-streets or alleys we could duck into for cover.

"Move in."

Voya was up and over the worn metal, letting its parts bang against each other as she did. Rane and I moved through the 'entryway', while Illyan shrugged and imitated the Quarian on our otther side.

Which deposited us into such a lovely little shithole.

The courtyard was L shaped, with us entering near its base and having good lines of sight in both directions. More pathetic sentry gates blocked off entrances in both directions, and it looked like they'd been smart enough to fully wall over any other entrances. Most of the surrounding station structure looked fully sealed, which again made me wonder where the fuck we were, but some were open to reveal badly light rooms.

Shacks occupied most of the rest of the open space, looking as if they'd been built out of whatever metal and cloth that the group could scavenge up. It struck me as incredibly primitive, even by Omega's standards, and that made the slave cages all the more contrasting.

They looked like the same design from Shith's shop, down to the advanced locks connected to console stations by thick cables. How they could afford things like that but couldn't afford to put their guys in decent armor... something odd was definitely going on here.

We were a good few meters over the wall and headed for what nearby cover we could find, _actual_ cover, not shack walls, when the first local noticed us.

"Intruders!" A Batarian bellowed in lowborn, "Shith wasn't lying! Intrud-"

Illyan shut him up with a short burst from her gun, the unarmored form toppling to the ground with a screech of pain.

Shouts and bellows almost instantly began to fill the air, gangsters throwing themselves out of their shacks and grabbing weapons while slaves screamed and cowered inside of their small cages.

Things got... complicated rather quickly after that.

Rane and I slid to halts behind what might have once been a raised platform, but now simply held a large shack with rickety stairs leading down to the ground. With the thick metal and stone covering us, we leaned around our respective sides and started throwing tech mines all over the place. As lightning and fire began exploding, Voya joined in with precise cracks from her sniper rifle while Illyan carefully threw a singularity to force our opponents right to left, or else wander into it and be summarily executed.

The first few minutes weren't all that interesting unless you seriously liked killing people. Since I didn't consider myself that far gone yet, it mostly left me feeling drained and cold as overloads sent people to the floor where I could fire off short bursts to finish them off. Things began to turn as someone started bellowing orders, joined by Shith's familiar flange as the pair of them tried to turn the slaughter into something more like an actual fight.

A Batarian wearing actual Blue Sun armor went down hard, his scavenged rifle peppering my arm and chest to work at my barriers before Illyan and I focused on him. His armor kept him upright and alive for a few moments, but instead of using that time to find his own cover, he kept trying to shoot at me and that gave our rounds all the time they needed to wear out his shields before blasting through his plating.

But the time it took to kill him was time we didn't really have, especially as more opponents began to finally get their own equipment on and emerge.

Rane, without me needing to tell her, quickly shifted to overloads rather than incinerates, and she and Voya quickly setup a tandem. A blue tech mine exploding in arced lightning would be swiftly followed by one or two quick shots from the Quarian's rifle, the pair of them working through three, and then four opponents before Illyan and I had finished off a Turian.

There were maybe a dozen left, all cowering in cover and only popping out to shoot at us for a few breaths before ducking back when the situation changed yet again.

"Parley! Cease fire and parley!"

I blinked in confusion, our opponents guns going silent at the Batarian bellow.

"Hey! Intruders! I want to negotiate!"

Shaking myself a bit, I rose my voice and shouted back in Highborn. "Why!?"

"Because you're fucking killing my guys, and this prick isn't worth that!"

Glancing to my left, I caught Voya's glowing eyes. She gave me a firm nod, which I returned slightly. "Send him over to us!"

"Swear that you'll leave if we do!"

This time Voya shook her head, not that I needed to see that to know what her thoughts would be. "So you can shoot us in the back? Why not just tell us to wander into the desert without water."

There was a long pause before he shouted back. "I'll come with Shith, you can hold your gun on me until your out of here. Then you'll let me leave."

I could only blink in shock. That was... _not_ normal behavior from a gang leader. Particularly one who kept slaves in open-air cages. Either this guy was the Batarian equivalent of a saint, or he was up to something. But what the fuck could he gain by risking his own life? Unless... hm.

"Why don't you let me talk to the _actual_ person in charge?"

Another pause, and then Shith shouted back. "It took me a while to recognize you, Batarian. You cover the limp quite well without your little stick. I see Q094F is behaving for you."

"Let me guess, you have someone who looks an awful lot like you with a gunshot wound to his ankle?"

There was an amused chuckle. "It was worth the attempt, no?"

"Whatever. You know we're going to kill your, right?"

"I know that you have no idea who I work for."

I rolled my eyes, motioning to Illyan. The Asari nodded, her body glowing with power before she carefully threw a hand forwards and then down. The singularity that rocketed out followed the same arc, flaring properly into existence directly next to another raised shack. There was an echoing cry as a Turian was partially dragged into the open, struggling against the pull to hide himself once again.

Voya didn't give him the chance, putting a shot into his exposed leg. Blue blood sprayed as Shith screamed, the biotic power slowly hefting his flailing form into the air. After a few moments of being airborne, the tiny black hole vanished, flinging him to the ground with another cry of pain. He tried to get up, only for both of his legs to give out, leaving him curled on the floor and clutching his lower limbs in pain.

"Throw your guns down if you don't want to end up like him!"

For a long few moments, I didn't think that it would work. Then guns and clubs began to sail into the open as their owners hurled them aside. They emerged after, their arms held up as they did so.

Once there was a dozen of them, with no more apparently coming out, I nodded to myself before shouting again. "All of you group up in the shack next to your boss. You come out, you get executed."

There wasn't any complaining, the gangsters quickly shuffling their way into the rickety building Only when all of them were in there did we risk coming out of cover. No one emerged to shoot at us as we carefully picked our way over to where the slaver was still writhing on the ground, which I took as a good sign.

"Rane, Illyan?"

"Covering the prisoners, Reyja'krem." I felt my lips twitch, nodding in grateful thanks as Rane easily understood what I'd been about to ask. The pair of them moved over to the doorway, keeping their guns up and aimed.

Which left me and Voya standing over Shith, his mandibles flaring with each breath as he stared up at us.

"Out of curiosity, who _do_ you work for?" I asked, cocking my head as I stared at him through my helmet. "It isn't Aria."

"Yes it is." He seethed. "The Queen.. will kill you for this."

"No it isn't. If you _did_ work for her, you would have had her logo plastered on your wall and we would never have even tried this. You would have also fled up to Afterlife rather than down to these idiots."

Something like a bubbling snarl emerged as Voya collapsed her rifle, reaching for her knives. "I _helped_ you bitch."

"Like you helped the girl that you lobotomized and raped?" I blew out a seething breath between my teeth. "Or like you've helped the other people your thugs have captured and brought to you in chains?"

The Turian tried to reach for his gun, only to howl in pain as I brought a boot down on his wrist. "Don't fucking get righteous with me _highborn._ My employers will-"

Voya shut him up with a quick kick to the face, leaving him yowling once again.

"Watch his claws." Nudging my foot to his belt, I knocked his pistol free before kicking it firmly away. "Otherwise... promise kept."

The Quarian nodded absently, one of her feet replacing mine to keep his right arm pinned down. He tried to slash at her with his other hand as I turned away, only for one of her blades to whip across his fingers. The screaming only got worse from there as I walked away, making very sure not to turn around to see what was happening.

"Boss..." Illyan's voice was very low. "Kie."

"You saw what he did to that girl." My own voice was rough even to me. "To who knows how many before her."

"Yeah, but... Athame."

"Didn't you kill Batarians who merely threatened your sister?"

"I didn't make them suffer."

I stared at her for a very long moment before bowing my head slightly. "Voya. Finish him off."

The screaming continued, making me close my eyes. "Voya. Please."

Metal struck the floor, and the howling cut off into a vague gurgling sound, and then there was silence.

"Thanks boss."

I shook my head, feeling... something. Turning away from her, I stared at the shack for a long moment before rising my voice. "Whoever is in charge in there, get your ass out here."

Nervous shuffling eventually revealed a tall form in Blue Sun armor, the Batarian reaching up to remove his helmet as he gave me an extremely submissive bow. I twitched my head heavily to my right to indicate my superiority before speaking again. "You worked for him?"

"Yes, lord. He paid us to retrieve slaves from the lower levels."

"He gave you the cages then?"

"Yes, lord. He provided them along with restraints, we received a tithe from each of his sales."

I grunted, not terribly surprised. "Do you remember acquiring a Terminus Quarian for him?"

"I... we did, lord. A few months ago. He had specific requirements for who we targeted. At the time Terminus Quarians were in demand, he had us retrieve several. He allowed us to keep one as a reward for acquiring more than his quota."

That definitely made me feel less... whatever I'd felt about letting Voya indulge. "Did you rape her?"

He swallowed heavily. "I did not, lord. I wasn't high ranked enough at the time. Our former commander restricted enjoying her, used it as a reward for performance."

"He's telling the truth, Reyja'krem." Rane's voice echoed quietly in my helmet. "He doesn't hold himself like one who would lead."

"Or lie to a highborn." I agreed. "Where is your actual commander?"

"Dead, lord. Your sniper killed him."

One down then. "Are any alive who were high ranking then?"

"Yes lord."

"Bring them out." As he turned away, I flicked my external speakers off again. "Rane, head over the console and see if you can open the cages. We can't take them with us, but we can at least let them out."

"Understood, Reyja'krem." She moved off as Voya finally came over, blue blood flecked and splattered over her body.

"We're isolating anyone who harmed you. Kill them, but we're leaving the others."

Her eyes blazed in anger, and she actually took a step towards me.

"Calm your fucking waves. I have a plan." She didn't look like she believed me, which only grew worse when I added. "And use your gun, not those knives."

She trembled for a moment, then slammed her blades back onto her belt before grabbing the pistol she rarely touched.

A few moments later four people came back out of the shack, two Turians along with a pair of Batarians. The 'commander' gave me another submissive bow, keeping all four of his eyes on my feet as he waved towards the others.

"Helmets off." The three glanced at one another but slowly did reach up, pulling their headgear free. "Voya?"

The Quarian stepped over, moving clearly into their line of sight. Eight eyes flicked towards her in confusion, but not recognition. She reached up and tapped her throat once, before waving her free hand in my direction.

"Any of you remember a mute Quarian?"

The middle Turian gave himself away immediately, his mandibles flaring wide as he took a step back. A hole promptly opened in his forehead as she snapped her gun up, his body hitting the floor moments later. As he was still collapsing, the Batarian tried to bolt, turning as he tried to make a run for it. She put two rounds into the back of his broad head before he made it more than three steps, and then turned to the sole survivor.

Who surprised me by crossing his arms and shrugging. "Get it over with bitch. You weren't even a good lay anyway."

She promptly obliged him, leaving his corpse to fall beside his former comrades.

"Is... is that all, lord?"

"From you, yes. Get back inside."

The lowborn exile promptly did so, scuttling as quickly as he could into the 'safety' of his makeshift prison.

"Illyan, Voya. Collect all of the guns they threw around and put them next to Rane." Both women turned to stare at me. "Don't argue with me. I'm too tired to explain myself."

The Quarians' silver eyes narrowed but she nodded before stomping away. Illyan seemed to get it though, stepping closer and briefly touching my armored shoulder before moving on.

"Rane, you have any idea where we are?"

"Yes, Reyja'krem." My lover turned to give me a respectful nod before returning to her console. "We're directly beneath the water treatment plant, most of the surrounding structure contains pipes and tanks that connect the rest of the station."

I grunted, wishing that I had my cane to lean on. "You have a way to get back to our place without drawing too much attention?"

"That exit, three blocks to a service elevator." An arm waved in the appropriate direction. "That will take us to the level beneath ours. From there it's a short trip to a utility entrance that will take us back beneath the store."

"Good work, thank you."

"As you say, Reyja'krem. I did download everything they had onto a chip for Voya to go through, and I can open the cages at any time."

"Not just yet." Glancing around, I saw our friends throwing pistols, pipes, and other makeshift weaponry in our direction. It didn't take them more than a few minutes before there was a small, if shitty, armory just sitting in a pile on the ground. "Open them."

She pressed a glowing button, metal clanking and whirring as cages opened. Humans, Turians, Batarians, even a Drell carefully starting stepping out, staring nervously at us. Most were barely wearing anything but rags, and many looked cold or sick.

"Right. All of you gather up, over here. We aren't here to kill you, so stay calm."

Either I was a lot more convincing than I thought I sounded, or they didn't think they had much to lose, because nearly all of them shuffled in our direction. Soon enough twenty or so battered beings were gathered in a ball of nervous life in front of us.

"As you can see, there's a pile of weapons right here. I consider them shit, but they're better than nothing. Unless you want to throw yourselves back into slavery, I'd avoid going that way," I jerked a thumb in the direction we'd come. "I'd recommend claiming this place for yourselves. There's probably food and clothing, and some defenses."

A few, mostly the Turians, were nodding slowly in approval, glancing around as if taking stock of their new situation.

"You.. you aren't going to help us?" One of the humans asked, her voice high and reedy.

"I got you out of your cages and I'm giving you guns. That's a lot of fucking help right there."

"But-"

"Stop bitching." A Turian snapped, stepping forwards and grabbing a rifle that might have once been a Mattok. "We aren't about to be dragged out of here and having slave collars implanted. Thank your spirits for sending this Batarian, then shut up and grab a weapon."

His fellow Turians quickly followed his advice, moving closer and taking the best weapons for themselves. A few Batarians and humans were quick to follow, but there was a subset of both species that just stayed huddled together.

Shaking my head, I motioned for my friends to head towards the exit. Rane and Illyan started moving, but Voya just stared at me.

"Hey, you." The Turian who'd first armed himself turned to look at me. "You know the building with everyone in it?"

His mandibles shifted slowly. "What about them?"

"They going to live much longer?"

His head turned to regard the shack where the surviving gang members were still cowering. His voice lowered into a growl as he brought his weapon up, "I want my armor back."

Voya's eyes went wide, then curved as if she was grinning wickedly. She moved past me without any more signs of complaint. If anything her movement grew bouncy as the first gunshots rang out behind us, whatever anger she'd had towards me apparently quite worked out.

We headed through a makeshift gate, throwing the ragged doors open and heading into the street. I tried to get moving into a jog with everyone else, only to start grimacing in pain as my body informed me that I had definitely gone beyond what it was prepared to accept.

"Reyja'krem, are you all right?"

"I'm..." I was about to say fine, but something about the way her helmet was staring at me told me that that was a bad idea. "Wrenched my knee at Shith's place."

She didn't bother saying anything else, instead moving closer and waiting for me to wrap an arm around her shoulders. With her supporting at least some of my weight, we didn't move all that much faster but I had to admit that it didn't hurt as much.

We kept moving through the plain tunnels, shuffling through the grime and garbage as we did so. Illyan realized we were being followed about a block out from the courtyard, grunting as we slowly rounded a corner. "That human kid is still following us."

I could only groan. "Seriously? He couldn't have just stayed with the others?"

"I don't think he's got the personality to survive with them boss." She shook her head. "You did say he could follow us back to our district boss."

I had. "So?"

"So.. he'd know who we are then, wouldn't he?"

A muscle in my cheek twitched as I realized where she was going with this. "No Illyan."

"Boss."

" _No._ "

"Cieran. It's _one_ kid. Athame's ass, we can lock him on the third floor if you want."

"I don't want a slave Illyan."

Her hands threw up, "I didn't say crap like that, of course we pay him. Out of my salary even. Let him clean things or something."

"It would be good to have a maid service." Rane mused quietly, ducking her head when I whipped my head in her direction. "You must admit, Reyja'krem, that the store could use it."

"Rane."

"Does the Pillar of Heart not say it is an honorable duty to take in the abused, and show them how they might be valued no matter their role and caste?"

The fucking muscle in my cheek twitched again. "Aethyta is going to drown all of us. Trisren is going to help her. We'd be dragging him into all of the crap we're stuck in."

"For what? A couple months? Soon as Tris and that bitch T'Ravt clear out the True Sons we're done here. Then we're back at Illium, and maybe he can have a decent life."

"We have done... quite a few things today, my Reyja'krem." My lover murmured. "Rather brutal things, to deserved people or not. I think it would be good if we could improve the life of even a young slave, especially if it would not cost us overmuch."

I wanted to groan, wanted to smack my head against a wall, wanted a fucking drink. "Voya? You want to make it unanimous?"

The Quarian glanced back at us as we walked, cocked her head in mock consideration, then nodded.

I let out a long groan, turning my focus back to putting one foot in front of the other as Rane helped me move. "Illyan, go and grab him."

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 6: The Deathblow**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Shith is dead, things got a little dark, and Cieran isn't quite right mentally or physically. We'll get a proper introduction to their new not-slave in the next chapter, as well as getting his reaction to everything he watched happen in this chapter. After that we'll see a little of how everyone is doing after this.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	24. Act 2: The Deathblow

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Deathblow**

The young man couldn't have looked more nervous and intimidated if he tried. Still wearing only his ragged blanket, he shivered as the four of us stood around in our kitchen and stared at him. He'd been ecstatic when Illyan said he was coming with us, a little _too_ ecstatic for my tastes. Voya had almost shot him when he'd asked which of us was his master.

Illyan had quickly clarified things for him, informing him he'd be a paid employee but that he'd be stuck inside of the building until we decided we could trust him. He'd been completed stunned by the former, quietly admitting that he'd never been paid for anything in his life.

I hadn't missed the way the big Asari had given me a pointed look through her helmet, forcing me to dip my head as we rode the service elevator upwards. We'd stolen through the utility tunnels as quickly as we could, with Illyan physically carrying the young man while Rane and Voya had both taken one of my arms to help me move at something faster than a walk.

Getting back in through the security door in the tunnel's roof was easy enough, and we'd sealed it behind us and reset the various tech mines set to punish anyone who tried to open it once we were in. That done and out of the way, Illyan had grabbed a base omni-tool and loaded the base translation software before giving it to the kid. Once he could understand all of us, we'd all limped up to the third floor, where we now stood around waiting to hear the kid's story.

"My.. name is Jarick," He was clearly fighting the urge to wring his hands as he spoke, "Um. I've served several masters, that I can remember. Mostly, um, cleaning and cooking. B-but if you need me to do-"

"What do you _want_ to do?" I cut in, feeling a migraine slowly beginning to form. "Besides grow your hair out."

"Does he have to?" Illyan spoke before the kid could, her helmet already off and tucked under one arm. She gave him a little grin as she cocked her head. "He's cute without the fur."

Said kid flushed bright red once the machine on his wrist switched that to English for him. "I... I don't... I like cooking?"

Rane grunted, reaching up to pull her own headgear off. "At least we have a spare bedroom. We can get him setup in there."

I nodded in agreement, my own hands rising up to start working at my seals. "Illyan, that's you. And stop flirting with him."

"Where's the fun in that boss?"

"Kid, if she starts touching you, tell me." His already red skin become positively crimson, but his expression shifted as I pulled my helmet off, his mouth dropping open. "What?"

"You... you're..."

I blinked irritably. "Yes. I'm human. So what?"

His mouth clicked shut, "N-nothing sir! I just d-didn't expect... you d-don't... I'm sorry sir."

"Stop calling him sir." Illyan cut him off gently, "He's not your master kid. Call him Kie. Or boss, I guess. And don't apologize so goddess damned much either."

"I'm-" Voya turned towards him, her blood splattered mask making him instantly shut up before another apology could come out.

Groaning, I reached up to run a hand through my greasy hair before running through our tasks. "Voya, stop intimidating the new guy. You and Rane should go through the data she grabbed and see if you can find your last target. Use the console in our room if you want some privacy. Illyan, let's show Jarick where he'll be sleeping. And find some actual clothes for him."

While the lowborn and Quarian vanished into the room I shared with the former, Illyan and I started working the kid through the basic rules.

Don't go into Rane and Kie's room. Don't even touch Voya's door. Ask permission before coming downstairs. Don't touch the weapons. Tell us if something was wrong, don't assume that we would punish him for speaking. Clean anything he wanted on the third floor but ask for the second.

Then Illyan had casually mentioned that he'd be paid a thousand credits a month, which had nearly made him faint. She'd had to help him down the hallway, where we'd opened the door and told him the room was his... where he _had_ fainted.

"I don't think he's ever had money before boss. Or his own room." She spoke quietly as she easily hefted him into a bed.

"Especially one this size." I agreed with a sigh, feeling... a lot calmer about the decision to bring him after his reactions. "His former 'masters' probably didn't live in rooms this large."

"Yeah." Leaving a note for the kid on the room's nightstand to find her when he woke up, the pair of us had exited the room and drifted back into the living area. Well, she drifted, I shuffled and limped until she rolled her eyes and grabbed one of my arms. It was a little awkward with her height, but she still managed to more or less drag me over to the couch and carefully deposit me onto its relative softness before collapsing in a clatter of her own armor beside me.

"That was..."

I could only groan. "Yeah."

"I mean, I get that he was a fucking asshole who deserved for Athame to hurl him into the deeps, but... fuck boss. Voya..."

"Isn't stable. We knew that."

"I don't think we did." Her voice lowered slightly. "And... you weren't all there yourself either."

My eyes carefully flicked away from her. "They were slavers."

"They were people too."

"People don't consider other people to be property."

I heard her swallow heavily before a large hand carefully touched my left forearm. "Cieran...you kill them, sure. But if you hadn't given in to me, she would have tortured them for as long as she could. Not just Shith. All of them. And she'd have made them listen to it."

"They raped her. Enslaved her. Cut her throat. She has her reasons for her anger."

"Yeah, but _you_ don't." I turned to stare at her blankly. "I don't like what she did, or what she wanted to do, but I can _understand_ her boss. What I don't understand is where your anger comes from."

My anger came from being raised to loathe the very idea of slavery. Of paying attention to history and not liking what I saw. Not that I could tell her that. "I don't... I just hate it, all right?"

Her broad features remained drawn. "You... sure you don't remember anything? Nothing coming back?"

"No." The word came out more snappish than I intended.

Eyes narrowed. "Don't snipe at me like that. Athame's ass, I'm your _friend_ Cieran, I'm allowed to worry when you start letting people be tortured to death in front of us."

"I don't, it wasn't... dammit." I turned away from her, trying to find the right words. "The idea of slavery and rapists just pisses me off, all right?"

The couch shifted as Illyan left it, but rather than stand she shifted into a one-knee down posture in front of me. "You think something... from before the Matriarch happened to you? Like with Voya?"

I could only blink back at her. Where was she going with this?

"Maybe it did." She seemed to rush to continue at my lack of response, "Maybe a lot of crap went down in your old life, and when you see things like that... it just comes back out."

"I don't-"

"Know." The Maiden finished. "Just... call it my theory, Cieran. You're a good guy, I know that. But that's why.. why I'm worried."

Something a lot like shame quietly rose with the tide in my brain, washing over me as I bowed my head. "You sure you're not a Matriarch?"

Illyan managed a strangled little laugh. "Did you just call me _wise_ or _old_?"

"I think I just called you ancient."

"Ass!" A hand shot up to ruffle my hair before I could stop her, my own not fast enough to prevent her from thoroughly messing it up.

"Why always with the hair!?" I protested, glaring at her through the strands as I tried to brush it out of my face.

"Because you hate it boss." She gave me a superior smirk before it faded. "If they find that doctor..."

"Voya is going. Preferably alone." I exhaled tightly as the momentary mirth faded, glancing back at the hallway to our rooms. "If she comes back, she comes back. If she doesn't, she doesn't."

The Asari stared at me for a long moment, then nodded. "She gets up close she might have a hard time getting away, depending on where he is. If she cares more about her new life, she'll snipe him out."

"And maybe come back."

"And maybe that." She nodded slowly. "She still might cut him up and get away with it."

"Didn't say it was a perfect plan. But..."

"You don't trust yourself to stop her?"

I had the decency to glance away. Illyan sucked in a long inhale, before letting it out and changing the subject. "Well, if we aren't going back out, might as well get out of our armor and showered."

"You are not showering with me. Or with Rane."

Unsurprisingly that made her pout slightly, the expression making her look enough like her sister to wash some of the gloom away. "But I was insightful and worried and everything!"

I snorted before shaking my head.

"Not even a kiss? I promise I won't be annoyed with the fur."

Tilting my head into the position for contemplative thought, I struggled not to grin at her suddenly wide eyes. Reaching out, I grabbed her chin gently to hold it there before slowly leaning towards her. I felt her breathing quicken, watched her blue lips part slightly... and then I smacked my forehead into hers.

"Fucking asshole!" She fell back fully onto her ass as a hand snapped up to rub her scalp. "Athame's azure!"

Snorting with laughter despite the pain in my own skull, I shoved myself off the couch. Dodging an awkward leg sweep, I headed for the bedroom. "You deserved it."

"I _deserved_ it? How in Athame's name are we friends again?" She growled, scrambling to her feet before following me. "I would really like to know."

"There are days when I wonder." I agreed, a smile still tugging at my lips. "Then again, I always have to wonder about your mental state."

"I am going to pummel you later. You know that right? Boss or not, friend or not, your pale ass is getting pummeled."

"Are you going to do that before or after you play the 'I'm here for you and your safe so sleep with me card' with Jarick?"

"Before, otherwise I won't have a reward after."

I could only groan. "Just make sure it's consensual all right?"

A fist slammed into my arm, the armor thankfully taking most of the blow. "Ass. I miss having Trena around just to take some of your crap."

Snorting, I gave her a rude gesture with my hands before turning into my own room while she continued on to hers.

Inside, I found more or less what I expected. Rane was seated at the console, quickly running searches through the files she'd grabbed while also trying to organize it into something we could actually peruse later. While she did that, a helmet-less Voya was pacing back and forth behind her, fingers flexing like she was resisting the urge to punch something.

"No luck yet?"

The Quarian's white hair ruffled as she shook her head, while Rane spoke up behind her. "Nothing yet, my Reyja'krem, but we did just start."

I grunted before tossing my helmet onto the bed, not really caring when it bounced off and struck the floor. I followed it a few moments later, though I at least managed to sit on the edge of the furniture without falling off. "Voya, mind starting your omni-tool so we can talk?"

She eyed me for a moment, pausing her pacing to do so, then nodded and brought the gleaming panels into existence.

"When we find the doc, you can handle it however you want to." Her lips pulled back in approval, showing ivory colored teeth. "But none of us are going with."

Wide eyes blinked rapidly as her grin faded, head cocking to one side as she stared at me.

"You're going alone." I repeated quietly. "Unless he's in a giant mercenary base or something, in which case we'll have to push this aside until we at least get sleep."

 _He won't be._ Fingers paused. _Why alone?_

"Few reasons." Wincing, I let myself fall back onto the bed and tried not to groan at how good it felt even with my armor on. "One, I'm not up to running, so that strikes me out. Two, you said I trust too easily. I probably do, which is why I trust that you'll shoot the asshole and come back. Three..."

The bed shifted as she sat next to me, turning enough so that her omni-tool hovered above my head. _Three, you don't want me cutting people anymore._

Taking I deep breath, I let it out slowly. "I don't, but not because I don't think that they deserve whatever you do to them. That's the problem."

Her expressive eyes narrowed as she cocked her head, unconsciously mimicking the Batarian posture for confusion. Which definitely went to show that she'd been hanging around me and Rane far too much. _Your problem is that you don't have a problem?_

"When you say it like that it sounds stupid."

 _Because it is stupid._ She brought her other hand up. _But I think I understand what you're saying, even if you did so in an incredibly idiotic like fashion._

I glared up at her, which only caused her to sniff somewhat disdainfully before typing out her next words.

_You're disgusted with yourself because you didn't care, but you think that you should._

"Yes."

Gleaming eyes rolled. _I don't want to have a moral debate. They deserved it._

"I don't want to have one either, and probably."

Her upper lip twitched slightly, briefly revealing her canines as it curled. _I'm going to hit you._

"Just not in the leg." There was another throb in my skull, though whether it meant a floating mind migraine was coming on, or just a side-effect of headbutting Illyan, I had no idea. "Or in the head."

_You're wearing armor everywhere but your head._

"So?"

A petite fist hit my chest-plate, making me grunt a little from the force. It didn't really hurt, just drove me down into the thin cushioning of the bed a bit. _Fine. I'll use my sniper rifle on the doctor, but I'm not going alone. Rane can come with and confirm it for you._

Closing my eyes against another surge of pain, I nodded slightly at the compromise. "Thank you Voya."

Another impact on my chest drew a tight exhale, but I didn't bother moving. At least, until I felt gloved fingers poking at my face. Batting them away with a hand, I forced an eye open to glare at her.

_Why aren't you fighting back? Or at least insulting me._

"Head."

She actually threw her head back and snarled slightly, before clambering off the bed and stalking over to Rane. I watched a quick mixture of typing, gestures, and words before my lover spun around to join the Quarian female in glaring at me.

"Reyja'krem, why didn't you say that you have a migraine?"

"Because it just started?" I tried not to wince as the throb accelerated. "Being honest Rane."

All four of her dark eyes narrowed, but she nodded tightly. "Voya, in our bathroom, shelf of the cabinet to the left of the sink. Two bottles, both labeled for him."

The Quarian nodded, heading that way while Rane rose, closing the distance before carefully reaching down and finding the seams in my armor. Grimacing, I forced myself up and started to help. By the time Voya was back with the pain pills we'd gotten my chest and arm plates off, and I was working on the gauntlets.

I expected her to put the bottles next to me, maybe throw them in my vague direction, and then take Rane's place at the console. What I didn't expect was for her to set them next to me and then start working at the heavy back-plate with its myriad internal parts.

"Voya?" A hand yanked the back of my hair hard enough to make me hiss in even more pain. "Got it, not asking questions."

Between the three of us, we got the armor off in... fuck, couldn't have been more than a minute or so. Though I would have liked to have changed out of the under-armor, and preferably showered, the two women apparently had other ideas. Rane retrieved water from the bathroom, while Voya pushed me properly into bed. I'd have vastly preferred it to be the other way around, she wasn't exactly gentle in shoving me around until I gave in and pulled the thin sheets over myself.

Several relaxation pills and a full glass of water later saw Rane lowering the lights, and then the pair of them were again back to the console to resume their search. My lover had offered to massage me, knowing how much it helped, but I'd waved her off. The sooner they found and got rid of Voya's last target the better.

After that... the drugs took their sweet time in working, as per fucking usual, and no amount of mentally bitching at Athame helped. Eventually things slowed, leaving me in a tired, pained haze as I tried to relax.

I know I fell asleep, because I dreamed of... home. Not Illium, my old home. On Earth. It was... worse than a nightmare in someways. Remembering people I'd purposefully tried to forget, causing the pain of their absence to come stabbing at me once again. The memories of how much I had loved the winter months, the sight of undisturbed snow making me smile when I first woke. The library in my spare bedroom with its dozen bookshelves all filled with all manner of paperbacks, my little worries of where I would fit even more.

But then I'd opened the dream door to my old bedroom, and things had changed. I'd stepped out into the main chamber of a water treatment facility in Nos Astra, my old power armor safely cocooning me. The old panic that Nynsi was being killed by her mother, and I wasn't there to save my Tarath'shan. All that was between me and them were thirty or so True Sons, teenagers... kids really, with nothing more than basic guns and minimal armor.

They hadn't been a real threat to me. Not with my exosuit.

But they had been in my way. And I'd been in a hurry.

I woke up with the memory of a pretty little Asian girl fresh in my mind. The way that she had screamed and clutched at her stomach as my rifle rounds had torn her apart...

Shuddering, I ground my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut against the darkness of the bedroom, trying to force the memories back into one of many boxes in the back of my brain.

It was getting rather crowded back there. And I was getting very sick of them getting out while I slept.

Groaning, I threw the thin sheet off of myself before forcing my body to climb out of bed. Voya and Rane were gone, probably out hunting a doctor. Not bothering to check the time, I shifted the lights to low before retrieving some casual clothing and heading off to shower.

My knee had progressed from painful to merely sore, which I took as a good sign. And the hot water did wonders to make my body feel better, but I was still mildly morose when I exited the bedroom twenty minutes later.

"Hey boss." Illyan gave me a wave from the couch, apparently instructing Jarick on how to work the flatscreen. She'd apparently stolen into my and Rane's room at some point, or Rane had brought her some of my old clothes. They didn't quite fit the younger man, I was taller for one, but there were better than a bedsheet. "Sleep all right?"

I grunted something vague before turning into the kitchen.

"He's usually like that before he has his tea."

"I-I can make it for you sir, I m-mean, boss."

My right arm waved him back to his seat. I didn't need someone to make my bloody tea for me.

"Give it a few days." She advised him, "Now, back to the important things."

"But... won't I be, you know, busy with... with things?" I glanced back to see him staring at the flatscreen in honest confusion as some Asari drama played out. "Like cleaning and cooking?"

"You can have this on while you do that you know. And you won't be _that_ busy. This place isn't exactly the Temple of Athame." When he merely blinked at her, she groaned. "It's not big."

"Oh."

"Athame's... look, I know this is going to be rough on you, but you _are not a slave._ You can have free time. Probably a lot of it." She paused before snorting. "Fuck, you could probably just _say_ that you cleaned and the boss wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Said boss was too busy impatiently waiting for water to boil to respond to that verbally, so he settled for a rude gesture behind his back.

"Here, go through the channels and figure out what you like. Don't worry about doing anything for at least another shift or two, try and relax. And get some sleep."

Frowning, I glanced over my shoulder to see Illyan handing him the controller before standing. The large Asari didn't waste anytime in heading towards the kitchen, her expression growing concerned, again, as she moved to stand next to me.

"See you actually got some sleep for once."

I grunted quietly, finally glancing at the time. Seven hours of sleep was quite a bit by my usual standards, it did make me wonder how long I would have gone if I hadn't had yet another nightmare.

"That wasn't an inspiring sound boss."

"Just need my tea."

It was her turn to grunt. "Rane and Voya left three hours ago, they should be back soon. Guy was hold up in upper Gozu."

"Good." The tea maker finally finished, beeping cheerfully as I carefully retrieved my precious cup. "Who was he?"

"Didn't give me a name, apparently he's a Quarian though. Flotilla exile for one reason or another." A broad shoulder rose and fell as her head dipped to that side. "Hopefully Rane can hold her back."

I tried not to wince, instead focusing on the pleasant aroma and taste of my liquid caffeine. If I'd known the doctor was another Quarian, a _Flotilla_ Quarian at that, I'd have... done something. Had all four of us go, maybe, just to make sure we could restrain Voya from going total berserker on the guy. I'd just have to trust that Rane could handle it. And that neither of them got hurt or did something stupid.

Sighing, I waved my cup in Illyan's direction. "If the kid wants to work, we need to repaint our armor back to the usual black. You can show him the second floor, but remind him he can only be on it while he's supervised."

"I remember. Athame's ass you're as paranoid as a skitter fish, you know that right?"

"You remember how many times someone on the mansion's staff betrayed us back on Illium?"

Her blue lips twisted. "Fine, fine. I'll even double check anything he works on. What are you going to be doing?"

"Trying to get the old fish on the line." I grimaced at the very idea. "And Tris. Need to update both of them that we're wrapping up our private missions."

"Sounds fun. Let me know when you're done, if Rane's not back..." her voice trailed off suggestively.

"Did the headbutt not get the message across?"

"It told me that I need to get you back for that." I felt my eyes narrow as she grinned down at me. "Enjoy the vidcall boss."

Pushing down my sudden wariness, I carefully edged around the Asari, watching her as she simply continued to give me a Vorcha-like grin until I was in the hallway again. Pushing aside the ominous feeling that I'd have to be very cautious for the next few shifts, probably the next few days, I shuffled back to the bedroom and made sure to lock the door behind me.

That bit done, I procrastinated for a few minutes, searching what passed for news sites on Omega's internet, as well as what few extranet pages covered Terminus related things. Unsurprisingly there wasn't anything about a firefight in the slave markets of Omeg'a Tuhi district, instead everyone was apparently more concerned about who Aria was sleeping with now, and what T'Ravt was doing on the station.

Not caring about the former, and knowing the latter, I forced myself to close the pages and start the connection process. Maybe Athame or the Pillars would finally be kind and she'd still be out of touch.

Or maybe I shouldn't have even had that thought.

" _Kid._ " Aethyta's exhausted face filled my screen not more than a minute after I'd entered the last password. " _Was just about to com you."_

"Here I was enjoying a few weeks without supervision."

The Matriarch snorted, sipping something dark from a small glass. " _I'm sure you were. I'm guessing there's a crisis, otherwise you would have kept enjoying it."_

"Crisis is a strong word." My head shook. "We took care of most of Voya's targets. Slaver who bought her is gone, gang who raped her are eliminated, she and Rane are hunting the doc who fucked up patching her throat right now."

She grunted. _"I'm not going to ask if she made it fast. Think it'll help her?"_

I gave her an Asari shrug. "Time will tell."

" _At least it's done with, you lot can focus on your actual mission."_ Apparently something in my expression gave me away, because her eyes narrowed. " _What else is there kid."_

"Well, good news is that Tris and I are both signed on with a group that's going after the main True Son base. Time frame is three or four months, Citadel standards, so hopefully we'll be wrapping up operations on this goddess-damned station by then."

" _If you signed on with Aria I'm going to strangle you both."_

I winced. "T'Ravt."

It took a lot to surprise Aethtya, but from the way she actually dropped her alcohol, the glass shattering somewhere off screen.

I was half ready to throw Tris into the riptide to save myself, but decided to keep my mouth shut when dark biotic light started to interfere with the camera's resolution. Which was definitely not a good sign.

" _You're telling me that two of my agents, Republic Intelligence agents, intelligent, well reasoned individuals, just signed CONTRACTS with Yan goddess-damned T'Ravt!?"_

I flinched, trying not to sink further into my chair. "Yes?"

" _If I wasn't fighting for my fucking job kid..."_ Her lips curled in a snarl. " _I'd already be setting up a shuttle to take me to that station. What in Athame's fucking name were you two thinking!?"_

"That we wanted off this station? That no one else was going after the True Sons?"

" _You couldn't have just sat still and waited for her to clear them out!?"_ The camera on her end shook as a fist slammed into her desk. " _She's the most wanted being in the Republics!"_

"We aren't in the Republics." Something between my mouth and my brain apparently short-circuited, because I found myself snapping at my boss. "And you weren't fucking around to give us a better option. Tris made the call, I supported it and ended up getting called in too."

" _I'll deal with Trisren next."_ Aethyta promised darkly, " _Details. What are you doing for that bitch?"_

"Armor upgrades for the rank and file she's moving on station. She's purchasing the armor elsewhere, we're doing redundant shielding and additional strike plates." It seemed better not to bring up the fact that she'd wanted us to act as a support team in combat like we had for the Talons. "We're being paid enough to mostly shut down the store for the next two and half months."

" _That's it? Just some armor work?"_

 _"_ That's all we're contracted for. Give me _some_ fucking credit, I wasn't about to get involved any more than that."

There was a very long exhale as she visibly forced herself to calm down, " _Some credit then."_

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I stayed silent while the Matriarch took her time ordering her thoughts.

" _All right. I want a full report of your involvement kid. Anymore bad news for me?"_

Grimacing, I shrugged slightly. "It's less bad news. When we hit the slaver, he wasn't supposed to have anyone in his pens. There turned out to be two, a sex slave he'd... call it lobotomized, and another one he'd just gotten in. We mercy killed the first, but we brought the other back with us."

Another long exhale. " _Precautions? Information?"_

"Human male, maybe eighteen, nineteen. Calls himself Jarick, acts like he's never been anything but a slave in his life. We've got him confined to our third floor, not giving him a weapon, only letting him onto the second when supervised."

" _Thank the goddess you've still got some brains in your skull."_ She ignored my irritated look entirely. " _What are you going to do with him?"  
_

 _"_ Illyan volunteered to pay him from her salary. He wants to cook, clean, that kind of thing. If nothing else he's an extra pair of hands." Saying her name jogged my memory. "Reminds me, I want to give Illyan a bit of a vacation. Don't think she and her sister have ever been separated for this long before."

Aethyta stared at me for a long moment. " _Not taking one yourself?"_

I blinked. "Why would I?"

" _Been hearing from Trena's bondmate that she thinks you could use a break. Specifically to get your head looked at."_

"I'm fine."

" _T'Ravt."_ She reminded me irritably. " _Apparently you and Trisren both need your skulls looked into."_

"Well I just slept off another side-effect migraine so no one is getting in my head anyway." I let out a long breath before shaking my head and calming down. "I'll see Ghai when we're done here, and she can psycho-analyze me all she wants. Until then we've got crap to do."

 _"You aren't filling me with confidence kid. You're also not wrong."_ Her head shook slowly. " _I'll see what I can arrange for your big girl, but I can't promise anything. There's political crap on Thessia that's getting worse, I'm fighting to keep this goddess-damned job already."_

I winced. "And if Thessia finds out that two of your teams are working for T'Ravt..."

" _I'd be relieved of my post without a debate._ "

"Keeping my mouth shut, got it. You want me to call her someone else in my reports?"

_"Just refer to her as your employer. I expect them before tomorrow my time kid."_

Which meant there was a lot of fucking writing in my future. Awesome. "Got it boss. Will be ready for you tomorrow."

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 7: The Servant**


	25. Act 2: The Servant

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Servant**

I managed to get a hold of Trisren before Aethyta could, my fingers flying across the keyboard to setup the connection before the Matriarch managed to setup a link. I didn't have time to go in detail about what had happened with Voya's mission, instead warning my friend about the conversation that I'd just had.

Her blue skin had paled as I'd spoken, and she'd thanked me with the solemnity of the condemned before cutting the link.

Afterwords I just kind of slumped over in my chair, sipping at my tea and trying to just focus on breathing. If Aethyta was fired, what the fuck would we do then? I didn't have any personal loyalty to the Asari government, they'd never really done anything for me. Well, they'd paid me, but that was just money. Aethyta had been the one to give us information, who protected us, who gave us productive means of finding out just what had happened on Illium.

Stewing for a while, I eventually found myself glaring at the bottom of my now empty cup.

Groaning, I pushed myself back to my feet and shuffled over to where my cane was leaning against the wall. With my weapon slash walking stick once more helping me to move, I headed back out into the living area. It proved to be empty, which probably meant that Illyan had taken the kid down to the second floor. Or that she was ripping her clothes off for him in their room.

Either way, it left me alone with my thoughts.

Making another cup of tea didn't distract my brain in the slightest from replaying all of the crap that was going on. The T'Ravt business was shit, but Aethyta's fury aside there really wasn't anything that could be done about it at this point. Backing out of an agreement with a Terminus Warlord was something like suicide, except she probably wouldn't let us pick the manner of our own deaths.

Besides, it was really Tris who was out in the storm. All we had to do was modify some light armor with materials that showed up at our doorstep. Not exactly dangerous. Or difficult.

I grimaced at the idea, shuffling back to my bedroom before shutting the door behind me. I needed to talk with Trisren again, when we actually had time. Her people would probably need full workups on their gear before the operations began, as well as another supply run. Fuck, maybe even two.

"That something to do at least. Once I get Aethyta's fucking report done anyway."

Trying not to grimace as I belatedly realized I'd just spoken aloud to myself, I went back to the console and got started recounting the last day's activities while it was still fresh. I could move on to the meeting with T'Ravt after that. And then work out the supplies that Tris would need once that was done.

"And then I realized how much fucking paperwork I have to do."

Shaking my head and wincing, I forced myself to focus on what I was typing.

Reliving everything that we'd just gone through wasn't exactly fun, but it did help me zone out for a few hours. I was getting to the part where we had arrived at the gang's makeshift stronghold when I heard shuffling in the hall, followed by the bedroom door opening to admit Rane and Voya.

"Welcome back." Flicking the report closed, I turned the chair around so that I was facing them. "How'd it go?"

Voya made a gesture in front of her helmet.

"That well?"

"Two dead flotilla Quarians, one of whom was the doctor." Rane confirmed, her voice thick with exhaustion as she tilted her head politely in greeting before starting to work on her armor. "The other was a client and stupid enough to shoot back at her."

I grimaced. "No choice in that?"

My lover blinked apologetically my way once she had removed her helmet. "He had a hand cannon, Carnifex model. We ran his omni-tool after the fact, he was apparently exiled for arranging Pilgrims to be sold to the Collectors."

"No real loss then." For a moment I puzzled over the familiarity of what she'd said, but when it didn't come to me I mentally shrugged and moved on. "The doc?"

"She knocked on the door, he opened it, she shot him."

Said Quarian crossed her arms somewhat defiantly.

"Thanks Voya."

She gave me a little shrug before pulling her omni-tool up. _You kept your word. I should be the one thanking you._

"You know you don't have to."

_Still. I suppose I can stick around for a while longer. You are paying me after all._

Snorting, I pushed myself out of the chair and moved to help Rane get her equipment off. "How kind of you."

_It is, isn't it?  
_

I could only shake my head in bemusement, starting on the lowborn's legs while she focused on her heavy chest and back plates. "I already called in what happened to our boss. She took the T'Ravt thing about as well as you would expect."

There was a long sigh through sharp teeth. "Are we still employed, my Reyja'krem?"

"For now." My lips twisted a bit, fingers pausing before working at a buckle. "But avoid the Warlord's name if you have to talk with anyone. Or do any paperwork."

"That will not be difficult." She punctuated her words with a long yawn, gratefully handing off pieces of armor to Voya as the latter flicked her omni-tool off before moving to help us. What followed was essentially what the pair of them had done to me ten or so hours prior, with Rane quickly being divested of her armor before being pushed into bed before she could even attempt to protest.

Well, she did mumble something that was either a protest or thanks, but just touching the bed apparently had been enough to push her exhaustion past the critical point. I was pretty sure that she was out before Voya and I turned the lights off and closed the door behind us.

Brushing one of the Quarian's arms before she could head off to her room, I leaned heavily on my cane with my other hand as I spoke. "How are you feeling?"

 _I'd be better if you had let me take me time._ The glowing eyes behind her helmet narrowed slightly. _They deserved it._

"Probably."

The arm not holding her glowing omni-tool promptly shot forwards, her tiny fist smacking me in the chest. Fingers promptly banged out a new message before I could do more than take a step back and out of her reach. _You are so FRUSTRATING sometimes. If you think they deserved it you should have let me make them pay for what they did to me!_

"They did pay." I grimaced, reaching up to rub at my ribs. "They are very much dead and you are not."

_Don't make me hit you again, you know what I meant._

"Can you really blame me for being uncomfortable realizing that I condoned you torturing people to death?"

I watched as her eyes blinked again before her stance shifted slightly, her frame stepping closer to me as she tilted her head back to keep looking at my face. _If the Matriarch who attacked you was here now, a biotic nullifier on her neck, bound and totally at your mercy. What would you do?_

Demand to know just what she'd done to me for starters. Follow that up with demanding _why_ she'd done it.

But if I didn't like her answers... what would I do then? Would I kill her? Probably. I knew I was capable of that. Was I capable of... worse?

No... I don't think I was. But Voya could. And if I asked her to do it for me, and stood aside... fuck, I'd just proved that I was capable of that. I'd even more or less told her to go ahead and make it slow and painful after we'd found Jarick and Shith's sex slave.

I bowed my head slightly, feeling the sinking feeling in my gut at the thoughts.

A moment later, a three fingered hand carefully pressed against my chest, drawing my attention back to my companion and her new message. _You are still frustrating, but I'm starting to become fond of you_

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Fingers curled before the tiny hand hit my chest again, though softer this time. _Don't get used to it bosh'tet. No go away so I can sleep._

"Need you armor first, so we can repaint it."

Her omni-tool snapped off, arms crossing her chest while eyes narrowed.

I could only sigh and shake my head, "You're going to be stuck inside until it's done."

One of her feet started slowly tapping on the floor, and the glow from her eyes was little more than slits.

"I'll make Illyan do it."

Hands were working at her armor almost before I was done with the sentence, trying to get the heavy pieces off of her suit. Shaking my head, and knowing better than to help without her asking, I started accepting the pieces as she handed them to me. It took a bit longer with only her working at the equipment, but eventually her hands worked her helmet free, shaking her head a bit in relief.

She barely waited for me to have taken it before she turned to her bedroom, vanishing through the door with a very long yawn and leaving me with a pile of armor to try and move downstairs.

Muttering a few things that I'd probably not say to her face, I grabbed what I could before heading for the stairs.

"Boss." Illyan's voice greeted me as I finished navigating my way down to the second floor, the Asari glancing over from where she was sitting at her workbench. "That Voya's?"

"Yeah." I glanced around, finding Jarick carrying paint canisters to the Asari. "Figure we can get three sets done now, and do Rane's later."

The Asari glared at me. "I'm not doing hers boss."

"Yes you are."

Arms as thick as my neck crossed themselves in front of her. "Or you can do hers, I can do yours, and the kid can do mine."

"Jarick _is_ doing yours, but I'm doing mine and you're doing hers."

She actually growled a little, making the kid wince a little and edge himself a little away from the large alien. "I was your friend first boss, I don't get why you keep taking her side."

Shaking my head, I could only sigh as I responded. "I don't always take her side. Case in point, you still have a crest on your head. It's also not burned. Nor does your console blast krogan pornography whenever you turn it on."

Jarick turned red at the last, while Illyan merely made a disgusted sound. "I barely do anything back at her."

Which was a complete and total lie, she just wanted me to list off everything that she'd done, or tried to do.

"Illyan... just do it all right? I'm not in the mood to deal with your rivalry right now." Metal and ceramic clattered as I dropped the equipment near her area. "We can talk about all this later."

For a moment the same worried expression she'd worn when she'd confronted me in the living room appeared, vanishing as she nodded. "Sure boss, sorry."

"It's fine. Let's just get this crap over with."

Turning around, I headed back upstairs to get the rest of it. Thanks the steady ache returning as I went up and down the stairs, and my resultant need to use my cane, I ended up needing yet another two trips to bring the rest of Voya's, plus mine, down. During that process I caught glimpses of Jarick standing next to Illyan, his youthful features focused as she walked him through how to properly apply the matte black.

For the most part I let the muscled Asari do the talking as we separated the sets out, letting him setup in Rane's neatly organized area. He was incredibly attentive, seeming to hang on every word that she said, occasionally repeating things quietly as if intending to memorize it perfectly.

I waited until we were all quietly working before starting to pry. "Kid, didn't get much of a chance to talk with you earlier."

"I'm sorry sir, I was just overwhelm-"

"One, stop it with the sir crap, I thought we already said that. Two, that's part of what I wanted to ask about. How long have you been a slave?"

"Um." Glancing over, I saw him biting his lip as he thought about it. "Since I was a child I think. My first master was a Turian, she was rather nice actually. Taught me how to cook and clean, and how to properly respect people such as yourself sir."

Something twitched in my cheek but I restrained the urge to snap at him. "What happened to her?"

"She was old when I was young sir. Passed away peacefully in the upper spires."

Illyan grunted. "Must have been a seriously wealthy bitch to live up there. What happened to you after that?"

"Her children had no desire to own a slave such as myself." My fingers tightened as he actually glanced downwards in apparent shame. "I was sold at auction to a human. He was... not a pleasant master."

"He abuse you?"

"N-no, he..." His voice trailed off as he looked up, finding both of us starting at him flatly. "He struck me, occasionally, but never worse than that. I wasn't there long, he sold me to a Batarian. But he ended up killed for cheating someone else, that's when the Turian bought me."

I grunted. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen sir."

Another twitch. "So you spent most of your life with the Turian, being taught to act all... respectful?"

"Yes sir."

"Kid." Illyan's voice lowered. "I know this is going to be rough on you, but please stop calling him that. He doesn't like it."

"I... I don't know if I can, ma'am."

Oh yeah, this was going to be fun. "You can and you will. I'm not your master, neither is she. We don't own you, you're an employee."

His bald head lowered again, starting at the armor his hands were still absently painting. "I've never been an employee sir. Or had money. I don't... don't know..."

"What do you enjoy doing kid?" Illyan tossed a curved shin plate aside, grabbing Voya's armored helmet before glaring at it. "Besides cooking and cleaning?"

"I... I like cooking more ma'am. Seeing my mistress and the other slaves enjoy my food made me feel good." He bit his lip slightly. "She... she did let me read from her library. I liked that."

"Boss?"

"Erana has all of my novels." I reminded her, leaning down to inspect my chest plate before nodding slightly. "Ask her to send whatever ones she finished on the next supply run. He can buy his own once we get back to Illium."

And his own clothes. And his own food. Fuck, despite his actual age it was going to be like having a very young child around. He wouldn't be able to properly take care of himself right away, especially on Illium. The shopkeepers would eat up his naivete and throw what was left of him into the gutter when they were done.

"Y-you d-don't have to...to..." He quieted as I stared him down, his eyes quickly returning to his task. "Thank you sir."

"See kid? He is a good guy beneath the asshole exterior." My glare intensified as I shifted it to her. "Oh lighten up boss. Wait, Rane's asleep isn't she? Word of advice kid, whenever you want something, make sure to ask right after the two of them have-"

"Illyan."

"Just trying to be helpful boss." She stuck her tongue out at me when I kept on glaring, momentarily looking like a much larger version of Trena as she did so. "Anyways kid, anything you want to know about us?"

"I don't need, I mean, you're..." He swallowed heavily. "I wasn't allowed to ask my masters things like this."

"Take your time kid." Illyan's voice lowered from its usual rumble, becoming something smoother. "Don't force anything. You don't have to look at us when you ask if it helps, try acting like we aren't here."

Jarick sucked in a long breath, firmly starting at his hands before he hesitantly spoke up. "Is... is the boss all right? He holds himself to stiffly, like everything hurts."

I don't think Illyan had meant for him to speak quite in that fashion, but at least he'd gotten the words out.

Said Asari glanced at me, waiting for my nod and permissive gesture before speaking. "He's spent a lot of time with Batarians, had to learn to hold himself and move like they do. Also he's probably hurt somewhere and just doesn't want to tell us, but mostly the first part."

"Oh." The back of his neck turned red. "And he and Miss Rane'li are... _together_?"

"They're _very_ together kid. They won't even let me join them in the bedroom, which is massively un... wait," She leaned forwards slightly. "Are you blushing? Goddess, don't tell me you've never?"

He seemed to hunch back in on himself.

"Athame'a ass. Boss, can I?"

"No."

"But look at how adorable he-"

" _No._ " I exhaled. "You cannot drag him to your room and have sex with him right now."

There might have been a squeaking sound, and Jarick very much looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

"You're not any fun boss. Maybe later Jarick."

"I... you... I..."

"Goddess." Setting my painting tools aside, I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Illyan, I don't think he's ready for casually being dragged to your room. Or able to talk openly about it like this."

"But he looks so _cute_ right now. Kid, what kind of women do you-"

"Jarick." I cut her off before she could keep going. "How much sleep did you get after we left you?"

He was apparently too confused, or embarrassed, or flustered, to say anything, because he could only hold up a shaking hand and hold two fingers close together.

"Forget about the painting, you should get some rest. We'll get the rest of it done later, when everyone's awake."

The kid quickly set his tools aside, fleeing with his tail between his legs up the stairs.

" _Illyan_."

"I can't think he's cute? And it's been a few months boss, remember?"

"By the... the old fish is looking into getting you back to Illium for a little while, if she manages it, please, for the love of Athame, grab Trena and Ghai and just _work it out_. He's a freaking kid who's been a slave his whole life, I don't think he could handle even something simple."

She blinked at me stupidly. "You really asked her if I could go back?"

I blinked back at her, wondering why _that_ part was what she'd fixated on. "I said I would, didn't I?"

"And she said yes?"

"She said she'd _try._ Apparently there's a lot of crap going on there."

Illyan kept right on starting at me. "Do I have paint on my face or something?"

All I got was even more blank staring.

"You're seriously creeping me out, mind coming up for air and actually saying something that makes sense?"

There was a long exhale. "Boss... Cieran. You doing this for me or for my sister?"

Shaking my head, I turned back to my armor. "You know Erana is my favorite T'Donna. You're a distant third at best."

"We don't have another sister boss."

"Second favorite is reserved for Erana's hypothetical firstborn."

I heard another low growl. "Really boss? Here I was, getting all emotional at what you're trying to do for us, and then you go and say crap like _that._ "

"Here I was thinking you got my message about _not_ trying to seduce the former slave that we now have living with us."

Her chair skidded slightly on the floor, "Yeah, but you know how I feel about Erana and the idea of her... Athame's azure, I'm not even going to think about it."

"Think about what? Erana making out with a maiden in Eternity?"

The stench of ozone was my only warning before I felt myself being dragged backwards and off of my stool, the singularity vanishing while I was still partially airborne, resulting in my body slamming heavily into the ground.

I wasn't alone long, Illyan sliding to grab me with her massive arms before I could try and get up. Wrestling with her fairly was something close to suicide, so I promptly tried to jab at the pressure point that Asari had just under their armpits.

Her growl was something I could feel in my chest as she used an elbow to protect her side, making me hiss in pain as my hand smacked bone instead of muscle. The chuckle my pain drew cut off into a yelp of her own when I kicked a foot into her calf.

My moment of triumph lasted until strong hands twisted me around, my breath hissing out as my back slammed once again into the floor as she shifted to straddle my waist. And of course she made sure to put all of her not inconsiderable weight onto me, my breathing turning to gasps as I tried to keep my lungs working.

"What was that boss? You weren't _ever_ going to say tides-damned crap like that again?"

A hand weakly tapped the ground as I nodded.

Her weight shifted to her legs as she lifted her ass off of my stomach, sweet air making my eyes roll back as I groaned. "Bitch."

"You sure you want to call me names?" Hands fell onto either side of my head, her grin growing to Vorcha like levels as she shifted to hover over me. "Pretty sure you're at my mercy right now."

I narrowed my eyes as I stared up at her. "Illyan."

"Need something Cieran?"

"For you to get off of me."

Her lips pursed into a pout. "Oh come on boss. Not even a little kiss?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Rolling her eyes, she pushed herself back, keeping her weight on her knees as she glared down at me. "How about this. You kiss me once. If I don't manage to get you to like it, I swear to Athame I'll stop. I'll even go to Afterlife or a club and 'work it out' if the old fish doesn't let me go back home."

"Tempting... not. Illyan, seriously. Why are you so obsessed with getting into bed with Rane and I?"

"Because it'd be fun? And relaxing? Also fun." She finally pulled a leg up and over me, working her way to her feet before offering me a hand.

Rolling my eyes, I took it, letting her haul my upwards. I expected her to jut pick me up as she usually did, what I didn't expect was for her to use the leverage to yank my smaller, slimmer frame up against her while one arm snapped around my waist.

"You sure boss?"

I exhaled heavily, trying very hard not to notice... quite a few things. Yes, I was with Rane, and I had absolutely no complaints about her. But I was still a guy, and Illyan was exceptionally attractive. Especially when I was pressed tightly against her front. "I'm sure. Mind letting me go now?"

The steel limb around me relaxed, letting me stagger back as she grinned. "You're going to give in Cieran. Sooner or later."

I narrowed my eyes at her, not dignifying that with a response before I turned away and limped back to my workbench. I spent about five minutes being irritated with her, trying to think of what I could con Trena, or even Erana, into doing to her if or when she headed back before a new thought occurred to me.

"Illyan. Was all of that you trying to distract me from all the crap going on?"

Her voice was a bit sheepish. "I thought it'd take you a little longer to figure it out boss"

I stared at my mostly black armor before sighing. "Thanks."

"None needed boss. Told you, you're a good guy. Even if you won't kiss me." Growling, I grabbed a paint covered rag and hurled it at her.

And thus our second brawl of the hour began.

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 8: The Rogue**


	26. Act 2: The Rogue

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Rogue**

I couldn't help but cough, smoke flying out of my mouth as I tried to breath. Quickly pulling Rane's pipe from my lips, I hacked for a few moments until my lungs were clear again.

My lover bit her lip slightly, her lower eyes watching the still smoking object in my hand while her upper set narrowed in concern. "Are you sure about this, my Reyja'krem?"

"You said..." I needed another moment to properly inhale, "It helps you calm down."

"It does." She admitted. "But..."

Her voice trailed as I carefully brought the pipe back up, being far more careful about how I drew on it this time. The vanilla like scent of burning Chehala leaves filled my nose and mouth, the cloud blowing out as I slowly exhaled. Mindful of attempting to draw again too quickly, that was how I'd ended up coughing my lungs out prior, I carefully handed it back to her so that she could soothe her own nerves.

Across the kitchen table, Voya could only shake her head in bemusement, spiked white hair flopping back and forth with the movement. She sniffled quietly, but for the most part seemed to be over her reaction to us adding a new person to the place. A new person who'd been walking barefoot through a lot of crap on his way here, which really wasn't something any of us had thought about last week.

It was... odd to have another human around. Especially someone like Jarick.

For the most part he seemed to be almost painfully naive, which I think was caused mostly by his first owner not really teaching to do anything besides act like a servant. He had no real education beyond what bits and pieces he'd needed to do his jobs, and was having a difficult time adjusting to the fact that we really had no expectations for him.

Nor did most of us want to really give him much to do, we didn't want to imply that he _had_ to do things. We didn't want to take advantage of him. Well, three of us didn't. Rane had privately admitted that she still didn't quite get why Illyan and I were so hung up about it, but she followed our lead at my request.

Which lead to the next problem: he was nice.

Legitimately, obnoxiously, _irritatingly_ nice.

Seriously. Rane asked him not to tilt his head to the right in front of her, he made her a three-course meal by way of apology while she and I had been asleep and thus unable to tell him not to. I'd have gotten annoyed if he'd been subservient about it, but he had seemed legitimately upset that he had insulted her, even if he hadn't realized he'd done so.

And that was just the second day.

"Awkward Jarick moment of the day, he still thinks I'm injured and keeps trying to give me muscle relaxant tea."

Rane took a long draw on her pipe before groaning. "He still offers to make all of my meals for me."

Long fingers tapped out words into a plain text file on Voya's omni-tool. _He keeps offering to try and help me 'control' my hair._

"You do look like you've recently been electrocuted." I tried to point out, only for pain to promptly blossom in my shin as the table jumped slightly. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with your hair."

The Quarian merely sniffed in a superior fashion, a gloved hand running through white locks that were more or less standing straight out from her head.

My lover simply sighed and offered me the pipe again, letting me carefully take another attempt at it. "Honestly. Between Illyan and Voya I don't know how you _aren't_ constantly injured, my Reyja'krem."

_Don't forget yourself._

The lowborn's face darkened near her cartilage bands. "That was _one_ time. And we were drunk."

I sighed, sweet smoke blowing between my lips as I did. "And seriously Voya, we get enough crap from Illyan. You really want to be on her side?"

_Fine fine. But I reserve the right to make fun of you both if I find either of you bleeding._

"Fair enough." My head shook slowly while I watched the glowing embers in the bowl. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to talk about while Illyan and Jarick are minding the store?"

The Quarian gave us an Asari style shrug, then promptly scowled at herself for doing so. _I was wondering if you had asked your employer about surgery for me._

Grimacing as I coughed again, I handed Rane her pipe, letting her carefully extinguish it. "Haven't been able to get Illium on the line since the last call. I did ask a friend of mine to check with the doctor who examined my skull, she should have something soon. Hopefully we can get you in as soon as we get back there."

_You're assuming I want to go to the corporate world with you._

Rane's eyes all shifted in her direction. "Would you rather remain here? Or perhaps you desire to return to Xentha?"

Voya scowled at her. _I am merely evaluating my options. While I would like to be able to speak again, I have no desire to end up controlled by anyone._

 _"_ Controlled?" I frowned at her. "Since when have we tried to control you?"

 _You... haven't._ Her fingers moved slowly. _But I don't trust whoever it is that you answer to._

"You are not entirely alone." The lowborn on my left murmured. "Your trust for the one we report to aside, my Reyja'krem, you can't disagree that the communications troubles are... troubling."

I could only grunt quietly at that, not disagreeing in the slightest. I might have trusted Aethyta implicitly, I didn't trust the government she worked for. That _we,_ technically, worked for. And the inability to communicate with anyone besides Trena and Ghai was getting really, really worrying, especially when they admitted that the old fish was on Thessia more often that she was on Illium, with no real word on what she was doing there.

"If worse comes to worse, I'd still rather be on Illium. We know more people there, and the Republics has to step carefully around Sederis if nothing else." My right hand waved slightly. "We can also-"

The omni-tool on my wrist flashed to life before I could finish my thought, flaring briefly before I flicked a finger to accept the message.

" _Boss. Need you downstairs."_ Illyan's voice emitted from the tiny speaker on my wrist. " _Jarick wants to ask you something."_

I sighed. "We don't need him to keep making three course meals. Already feels like we're almost taking advantage of him."

The Asari let out an indelicate snort. " _Oh come on boss, he loves cooking. And it's leagues better than anything you can make, and don't even get me started on that sacrilege that Rane calls food."_

Said Batarian let out rumbling growl, subsiding only when I reached up to place a hand on her left shoulder.

" _...You could have told me she was listening boss."_

My eyes rolled. "In the all of five seconds we've been talking? What does the kid actually want?"

_"You can't walk down some steps so he can talk to you in person?"_

"You could use the exercise, my Reyja'krem." Rane spoke before I could, her tone dark. "Though your leg still seems rather stiff when you walk. Perhaps I should come with you as a precaution."

Illyan backpedaled as rapidly as she could. " _Or you could just stay nice and comfortable up there and I could put him on. One moment."_

I snorted as Voya let out a heavy breath, her lips curling in amusement as she nodded at Rane. For her part, the lowborn looked rather pleased with herself for a few moments before regaining her stoicism.

" _Um.. hello, sir?"_

"It's working Jarick. And how many times have I told you not to call me sir?"

" _I honestly stopped counting after the hundredth time sir."_

The sad thing was that I knew he was being entirely serious about having counted. "Just... ugh, fine, what did you want to ask?"

 _"I was... was hoping to make everyone food tonight sir."_ As if guessing what I was about to say, he rushed on before I could speak. " _I mean, I know I've been making some meals, but I never really thanked all of you for... letting me stay here after you freed me."_

"Jarick, this is the third day in a row you've asked me that."

" _Miss Illyan says that persistence is the best way to ask permission from you sir... um. Apparently I wasn't supposed to say that, she... um. May I make everyone dinner sir?"_

A muscle in my cheek may or may not have twitched, though my ire wasn't directed at the kid. "You know how we feel about taking advantage of you. How about this, tonight's Rane's turn to cook, you can help her make whatever she decides to make."

_"I would be more than happy to assist miss Rane'li sir, and please tell her that I apologize again for my unintentional-"_

_"_ Jarick." I cut him off, "It's fine, she didn't assume insult. Calm down."

" _I... yes sir. Um, when should..."_ His voice trailed off, " _A customer has entered the store, Miss Illyan seems to know them. She wants her omni-tool back, one moment sir."_

The speaker crackled and rustled as the small device was apparently passed back, a short conversation largely muted by something. Probably the Asari's hand. When she spoke up thirty seconds or so later, her voice was irritated.

" _Ayle is here boss, says she wants to talk with you."_

Ayle? I couldn't help but grimace at the news.

It wasn't that I disliked the other Reyja'krem, the few times we'd spoken she'd been studiously polite and hadn't seemed to mind the fact that I was human. And while the fact that she'd identified me as a Reyja'krem in Afterlife was annoying, she had helped me out with Aria's goons by doing so, and even admitted that she owed me a minor favor as a result.

And I had managed to confirm, both through Illium and Omega's natural rumor mills, that her story more or less checked out. She had been one of the few females to hold the rank of Harath'krem in the Hegemony, having been elevated during the war. Apparently she'd been a supply officer in the warrior caste, typical rear-line work for a woman in that screwed up environment, when the local Blue Suns had attacked. During the confused fighting that had followed, she'd ended up saving some low-ranking Highborn who had promptly claimed her as his noble warrior.

But when said Highborn had gotten himself killed not more than a few weeks later, his family hadn't wasted anytime in kicking her out. How she'd ended up on Omega freelancing was anyone's guess.

Which, I supposed, was really what my problem was. I had no idea _why_ she didn't care about my species. Or why she came to us, instead of going to any of the high market dealers around Afterlife. That she had some kind of long-term plan in mind wasn't in question, the where we fit into it, and how worried I had to be about it, very much was.

"She alone?"

_"Yeah."_

At least I wouldn't have to put my damned armor on then. "Shut the store down and lock the front, we'll be down in a bit."

"What do you believe that she wants?" Rane's four eyes were all narrowed as she stood, handing me my cane as I rose a few moments later. "Didn't she just replace her shotgun two weeks ago?"

"She did." I tilted my head in thanks as I took the walking stick, "Maybe she broke it already. You coming or staying?"

The last was directed at Voya, who had flipped her own omni-tool off but hadn't made any move to getup. Unsurprisingly she gestured at the mostly full cup of tea in front of her before pointedly leaning back in her chair.

Snorting, I shook my head before following Rane to the heavy pressure door over the stairwell. A few moments of stairwell navigation later found us both emerging onto the first floor, my body turning with my gaze as I caught sight of the only other person on station with my title. She was standing alone on the floor, as Illyan had said, her fingers tracing a display Viper that we'd put a few mods into.

For her part, the big Asari was leaning against the cage near its door, her armored body not-so-innocently between the Reyja'krem and where Jarick was studiously learning how to operate the register.

All three of them glanced over as we emerged from the doorway, my cane clicking on the hard floor as the pair of us headed towards the door Illyan was guarding.

"Reyja'krem Kean." Ayle's maroon lips pulled back into a smile as we exchanged formally polite bows of our heads. "You look better without the armor."

"Reyja'krem Ayle." I pointedly flicked my eyes up and down her as I moved past my companion, stepping out into the shop floor as Rane silently followed. "Having never seen you outside of yours, I can't reply in kind."

The little smile stayed on her face as she shifted, turning her torso to insure her head didn't move a millimeter in either direction. "I'm sure you could find other compliments to pay to you guest."

"I'm sure I could." I agreed reasonably, stopping a meter or so away from her and leaning on my cane. "But those rules most properly apply to guests who were _invited_ , whereas you arrived without prior warning."

She barked out a short laugh, acknowledging my point with a little nod and tilt of her head. "Then allow me to apologize for not announcing that I was going to visit my fellow Reyja'krem. I was hoping to speak with you about your former lord."

My lips twisted a bit. "What about her?"

"Pillars. 'What about her'?" Ceramic and metal creaked as she crossed her arms. "Are we done with our playful banter already? Here I thought you enjoyed the game."

I shifted my posture to something close to impatience. "Ayle, the Pillars alone know how much crap I have going on right now. I'd rather not waste time acting like some stuck-up Highborn. Present company obviously excluded from that group."

"Obviously." The other Reyja'krem echoed, her dark eyes becoming slits as she seemed to think on that for a few moments. "I don't suppose I can repay my small wrong by solving one of your many issues?"

"If one of them..." My voice trailed as I thought about it for a few moments, recalling something she'd said back when we first met. "You said that your Tarath'shan hated the Shaaryak family, yes?"

Her body briefly revealed confusion, and a hint a of surprise, but she nodded very slightly. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Why did he hate them?"

There was a few breaths worth of silence as she contemplated answering, then she gave another tiny nod and spoke again. "Your Tarath'shan arranged for the purchase of several prized slaves that he had his eyes upon and hoped to claim for his own. Her managers then paid off several executives to arrange for their 'exile', upon which they were promptly sent to Illium. This would have been during the time you still served her, I believe."

Illyan grunted from behind me, making me shift my body around so I could flick my eyes in her direction. "That would have been your influence boss. Think she brought in a few dozen that way, but I didn't know she'd bought them from other groups. Thought they were all Shaaryak employees to start with."

"So did I." The fingers on my cane relaxed and stretched, tapping out a slow rythem as I mused on that. "Ayle, would you happen to know the names of who all that happened to?"

"I will have to examine my old files, but I should. You wish to contact them?"

"Yes." A source of intelligence about what was going on inside of Khar'shan minor wouldn't be a bad thing to have. I mean, I trusted Trena and Ghai to tell me what they could, but they were still stuck using Intelligence servers to communicate right now. And besides, they had more important crap to do than pay attention to the progress that Shaaryak was making on producing my power-armor designs.

"You wish to spy on your former lover?"

"No." I shifted my cane in front of me, leaning forwards very slightly as I tilted my head left. "The list for the favor owed."

Her lips curled a little bit. "And no questions asked? Very well. Expect a message later this day."

"My thanks." Another pair of polite nods later, and that bit was out of the way at least. "Now, what brought you here in the first place? Don't tell my you broke your new shotgun already."

"Of course not." She shifted to show that she was mildly insulted, though her tone got that across well enough. "It is still performing quite well. What I do require is sufficient weaponry to re-arm the freelancers I have managed to hire for the upcoming conflict."

I nodded politely. "More of your usual, or do they have the sense to be properly distant from their opponents?"

"This is coming from the warrior who wields a little toy of a gun."

"At least I have a tech launcher to go with my 'toy'. And if I had power armor..."

"If you had power armor, you'd be far more involved with T'Ravt than you currently are," She chuckled, "Which still leaves you with your... what is it again?"

"My gun that saved your life?" It was my turn to chuckle as she went silent, glowering as I tipped my head oh-so-innocently to the right.

The Batarian woman looked affronted for a moment, but couldn't keep her face straight as she snorted and dipped hers to the left to accept my point. "Saved my life is a bit strong, but you did stand beside me. I'll need a dozen assault rifles, preferring something reliable. You still have Lancers in stock?"

I glanced back at Illyan, who nodded. "We've got ten, but..."

But we had no idea when we'd get more. "Ten work?"

"I need eight, plus spare parts."

It was Rane's turn to interject, "We don't have many left, Reyja'krem. The Talons took most of what we had in their purchase last week. We're down to six cases."

Damn. "Eight lancers at full price, throwing in two more at the same price as the part kits."

"Done." Another set of exchanged nods sealed it. "As far as ammunition, I was hoping for your recommendation knowing our opponent. You are quite familiar with them, after all."

I was, as much as I wished I wasn't. "Their regulars are Blue Sun trained, disruption ammo wouldn't be a bad idea to work over their shielding. You have anyone trained to use tech mines?"

"Regrettably not, unless you are for hire?" My arms crossed my chest. "Pillars, it was an honest question Kean."

"To which you already knew the answer Ayle. Eight disruption blocks, one per gun?"

"Acceptable." Whistling breath came through her teeth. "Now that our business is concluded, I believe our agreement was to speak of our former Tarath'shan only when we had drinks before us."

I blinked slowly before sighing. "Why are you so interested in what happened with that Pillars damned situation?"

All four of her eyes blinked slowly, as if she couldn't believe that I didn't understand. "Kean, you're _human._ And you were named Harath'krem by one of the oldest families in the Hegemony, even if their Patriarch was stuck on Illium."

"I know what species I am, and I know the Shaaryak's family history. What's your point?"

More confused blinking. "You... are you being entirely serious at the moment?"

Glancing back, I saw only confusion on Rane and Illyan's features, while Jarick was obviously trying to make it seem like he wasn't paying attention. "Yes?"

"Kean. You are a _human_ named _Harath'krem._ You were the biggest social scandal in the Hegemony since... Pillars, I don't even know how long. _Everyone_ had an opinion once it got out."

My mouth dropped open in a very human show of surprise as I gaped at her. "I.. fuck, I thought the Patriarch's Council kept it quiet. Rane?"

The lowborn looked as stunned as I was. "I... never heard anything, my Reyja'krem. The SIU teams and Balak obviously knew, but I had thought they were simply briefed on the local conditions."

Ayle groaned, posture showing her exasperation. "Here I was wondering how you dealt with the infamy, and you didn't even know that you were infamous. That you still are. Pillars."

I let out a very long exhale, the air whistling between my teeth in the Batarian fashion. "Jarick, do me a favor, run upstairs and get us some drinks. Illyan, think you can grab one of the foldout tables from the second floor? My fellow Reyja'krem is right, this conversation needs drinks."

Two hours later found all six of us sitting in the shop, pipe smoke making the air hazy as Rane and Ayle both puffed away as we drank and spoke. The latter was obviously amused to be the center of attention, her body shifting as the questions came. At the start it had largely been just myself that had been asking about what had happened in the Hegemony proper, but Illyan hadn't wasted much time in jumping in as well when the former warrior-caste had laid into Balak's father and his apparent lack of military talent. Rane had started speaking up as we'd gotten more drinks into her, mostly trying to help me keep the conversation more or less relevant.

For his part, Jarick was content to vanish in the background, though Voya was at least keeping him company. I didn't doubt that they were both listening intently to everything that was being said.

Long story made short, the Patriarch's Council had apparently kept Xerol's actions quiet for a few months before one of them had blabbed to his staff. After that, state-controlled media or not, the rumors had spread like oil in the ocean currents, and crap had more or less gotten out of hand. An 'underground' broadcaster who managed to get footage from Illium's news stations covering the True Sons incidents. Most notably producing a very brief glimpse of Shaaryak and I standing beside one another in the aftermath of the Water Treatment plant.

Once that picture had made its rounds on Khar'shan... the first whispers had been about what you'd expect; lots of belief that I was drugging and-or raping her, or having an Asari use some kind of mind-control power to do so. The Patriarch's had had to come out and say that the SIU had confirmed that there was no foul play to prevent a group of vigilante Reyja'krem from heading off to Illium with the goal of killing me. And causing an intergalactic incident in the process.

"That went over about as well as you'd expect." Ayle chuckled, throwing back a glass of beer before grabbing a bottle to refill it. "It made everyone focus on her instead. Was she mentally ill, did she just have a fetish, did her Patriarch force her into it to pay you off for services rendered..."

I could only groan as I sipped a wine, trying to pace myself a bit. "Do I even want to ask what you thought?"

"Fetish." Her grin grew as I rolled my eyes, Rane patting my forearm. "What? You aren't bad for a human male. The fur is...exotic. I can see why your lowborn can't keep her eyes off of it when you move."

My lover flushed slightly, her lower eyes flicking to the table.

"Her name is Rane'li." The Reyja'krem blinked all of her eyes at me, her glass lowering a bit. "Not 'my lowborn'."

"Pillars, calm down. It wasn't as if I told her to wipe the sand from my boots and clean them with her last cup of water."

"It's... my apologies."

Her drink waved with her arm. "Human, I get it. Most of your species can't stand the castes."

I grunted. "You don't mind my species?"

"I just called you exotic. Besides, you aren't from the Alliance. Those assholes can drown in sand and I'd sell tickets to watch them do it, but you Terminus lot are all right. Even if you don't accept the Pillars' wisdom when it comes to stratification."

Illyan shook her head, "Asari don't understand it either, and the boss spends a lot of time with us."

Ayle dipped her head in polite acknowledgment. "And I find both of your species' openness to be pointlessly chaotic, but the Pillars say not everyone can live by their wisdom."

"And the fact that the Hegemony system stopped you from serving because of your sex wasn't an issue for you?"

Her face twisted in displeasure. "You had to go and bring _that_ up. Dammit Kean, refill my drink by way of apology."

Snorting, I did so, taking the time to add a bit of wine to my own glass. "Sore subject?"

"It's a sore subject for all warrior women, especially us in the midcaste." She glowered, setting aside her drink after a quick gulp to grab the slender pipe she'd been smoking. "Most of us can trace our lineage generations, we didn't join to escape other duties. Yet we still have to treat lowborn males like superiors even when they're little more than flesh to be thrown away into the desert winds."

"There's an image." Illyan threw back the last of her own beer. "This is why I'm glad Asari don't have males like you lot, we don't have to worry about that kind of crap."

"Lucky you." Ayle muttered around her pipe, blowing a few irritated breaths of smoke out of her nose. "At least the rest of us don't have to deal with the rampant agism your people come up with. Half the damned Asari I talk to don't think anything important could possibly happen if a Matriarch didn't do it."

My Asari companion opened her mouth, looking ready to argue, only to close it after apparently thinking it over. "That's... I mean... dammit."

The rest of us all snorted before our guest rose, dipping her head in respect. "Thanks for the drinks Kean. And the amusement. I'll get you that list, should be back tomorrow for the Lancers."

I rose to my feet politely, making sure to return her gesture. "I'll admit to being pleasantly surprised by the quality of your company. If you've got more anecdotes about the incompetence of the Balak family, we have more beer."

She snorted. "I've got another three shifts worth of those, maybe once the True Sons are dealt with we can do this again."

"Agreed."

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

**Omega – Illium RI pipeline**

_User 1: Hey Scales._

_User 2: Ape. About fucking time you answered._

_User 1: Lot of shit going on on this fucking station._

_User 2: Really? I had no goddess-damned idea._

_User 1: There is a suspicious lack of missed messages from you scales._

_User 2: … All right, so there's a lot of shit going on here too._

_User 1: Not going to bother asking about the old fish. How's Ghai?_

_User 2: She's all right. Some biotic flares still, but her body's finally adjusting._

_User 2: She keeps shooting my bloody names down though._

_User 1: That's because she is a sensible person, unlike yourself._

_User 2: Asshole._

_User 2: How's the group? Heard you picked up a stray human._

_User 1: We're good, and we did. He's... different. Not sure if I'm just not used to being around a human again, or the fact that he's nicer than Erana when she wants presents._

_User 2: Goddess. How has your quarian not shot him?_

_User 1: Both former slaves, so she gives him some leeway._

_User 2: Makes sense I suppose. What about you?_

_User 1: I'm still alive. All I can really ask for._

_User 2: That does not inspire me ape._

_User 1: I can handle myself scales._

_User 2: Sure, but... shit. You and Rane bring Illyan to bed yet?_

_User 2: Seriously, her hands are definitely-_

_User 1 has terminated the connection._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 9: The Mercenaries**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, getting a bit of exposition out there, and bringing a minor character more into focus. Also expanding on Jarick a bit, and Cieran trying to deal with his issues in ways that are probably not healthy but at least are distracting, which more or less goes hand in hand with his PHD in repressing unwelcome memories (credit to a reviewer for that term, too lazy to look it up but I'm sure you remember lol).
> 
> The next chapter will continue the conversational trend, with Cieran and Tris finally getting some time to sit down and talk crap out.
> 
> Special shout out to lfan8 for leaving reviews on the last several chapters over the last few days as they read them, made me grin each time I saw the email saying I had a new review.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	27. Act 2: The Mercenaries

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Mercenaries**

"I am not happy with you Kie." Trisren's voice was low as we sat in a shadowy corner of the restaurant, the rest of the Silver Blades plus my friends laughing and conversing in the background as they shared drinks and food on the eve of battle.

"I'm... sorry?" I hazarded, carefully inspecting the Illium Moonrise I'd been served. The human bartender hadn't done a bad job at all, and I made a mental note to tip her the next time I went up to the bar

The little bar and grill was just a few blocks from our store, and we'd ordered to-go a few times from here before. Tris had apparently not wanted to bother with that, so she'd payed off the owner to rent the entire place for a shift. While he was probably ecstatic to receive a large pile of credits, his staff was more than a little nervous to be at the beck and call of a mercenary group without the normal reassurance of a few Talons around to keep the peace.

A low growl emanated from the thin Asari, but she kept her voice pitched low so as not to carry. "You were _supposed_ to run that Voya shit past me before you did anything."

I glowered at my pale drink. "I gave you the rough plan a few weeks beforehand."

"I still would have appreciated knowing that you were putting it into motion, instead of finding out after you went and fucking did it _."_ She exhaled heavily, taking a long pull from her simple beer before speaking again. "Athame's ass Kie. You could have at least sent me a bloody message."

"Sorry, we were... a bit distracted at the time." By distracted I meant hungover, but she didn't need to know that little detail. "Next time we go on a revenge driven mission I'll remember."

She didn't seem to accept that as an answer. "Dammit Kie, this isn't a fucking game. You can't run off and do shit like that without me knowing about it. What if we'd been attacked and had to pull back to Ironhold? There wouldn't have been anyone to shut down your mechs for us."

"Tris-"

"Don't try to play this off." My friend-slash-boss snapped. "You report to me, that makes me responsible if you four, five now, do something stupid and get yourselves killed."

Fighting down an irrational wave of irritation, I forced myself not to glare at her and instead take a slow sip from my mixed drink. The smooth liquid calmed me down enough to keep my tone relatively even. "It won't happen again boss."

The Asari exhaled heavily, apparently winding down. "It better not. I don't have any real way to fucking punish you, but we are sparring when we get back to Illium."

I tried not to grimace. Trisren wasn't the genetic freak that Illyan was, but she had an extra four centuries of experience in learning how to fight dirty, and Dorvahn had been adding in a few new tricks to her style. If she worked herself up into an angry mood beforehand, which she probably would, I'd need I-Sec to carry me out on a stretcher.

Changing the topic seemed like a plan, so I carefully tried to direct her anger elsewhere. "How'd the conversation with Aethyta go? Have you gotten her online since?"

"Poorly, and no." Blue fingers tightened around the bottle in her hands before she forced them to relax. "Once she was done asking if I'd let my goddess damned mind float out to sea, the screaming shouted. First for getting involved with T'Ravt at all, then for getting you involved with her, then for not being patient enough to wait longer."

Grimacing, I took another pull from my drink. "Guessing she didn't accept the reason that she was out of contact with you either?"

"Of course not. And of course she's not responding again." Her eyes flicked over to the tables where our people will still bantering. "You hear from Trena about that?"

"Few days ago." I grunted before exhaling slowly. "It's not looking good. Rumor is that its mostly the Matriarchs serving in the military that are trying to protect her, and they're losing support."

"To who?"

"The T'Soni and T'Ravt." Though _why_ Benezia was sabotaging her former lover I had no fucking idea. "The outreach and conservative blocks are reeling in the independents, it won't be long before they have the votes to force the issue out of the Republic committees."

"Which would leave it at the Thirty's feet, and those bitches despise her." Glass clanked as she let her bottle drop heavily onto the table, "Did she or Ghai find out _why_? They just fucking gave her the position."

I could only shake my head. "It's all convoluted shit Tris, all some power struggle between the Republics, the Thirty, and Matriarch Lidanya. She was the one who got Aethyta the post in the first place, and now the first two are grouping up to try and cut out the military from the political process. That the old fish is who she is is just making it easier on them."

At least, that was what Ghai had told me. She'd taken over when Trena had been unable to coherently describe the rising tides of stupidity that was apparently drowning all of Thessia. I hadn't even understood all of it even then, apparently Asari politics were both rigid yet fluid. Fluid because who was sleeping with who shifted on a daily basis and was apparently a very big deal, rigid because a lot of the Matriarchs involved had had centuries to develop grudges over slights both real and imagined.

They were appropriately epic as a result.

"Goddess. So not only can we expect not to have regular contact with her, she'll probably be losing her position in the very near future."

I gave her an Asari shrug. "Hopefully she can hold on for a few more months, enough for us to finish up here."

Pale eyes narrowed. "You don't sound particularly concerned."

"Of course I'm concerned." My own glass hit the table as I finished off the dregs. "But what the fuck can we do about it? If T'Ravt wasn't supplying everything and just using us for labor I couldn't actually maintain my contract with her. I'm down to _seven_ assault rifles total, and don't bother asking how many shotguns we have in stock. I'm just thankful we're still getting our goddess-damned paychecks."

Blue fingers drummed on the table. "I meant you don't sound terribly concerned about the fact that your friend is about to be fired. Thank you for reaffirming that."

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression she didn't even _want_ the job in the first place." I growled back, fighting to keep my voice low. "I didn't think she'd care if she lost it."

Also, friend was... an awfully strong word to describe my relationship with Aethyta. Honestly I wasn't sure what word woulds would really do. She was assuredly my boss, I respected her, and was definitely terrified of her... but were we really friends? I thought she was slightly protective of me because I was one of 'her' people, but I couldn't imagine just relaxing in a bar with her. Or having a casual, non-work related conversation even.

Still... I was rather fond of her, even with the terror of what she would do to me if she ever found out what I knew.

"She cares because who knows what idiot they're going to put into place." Tris glared at me. 'We could end up working for someone who'd throw our lives away for nothing."

"You're assuming my employment would last a minute beyond her being fired." When her glare turned into a blank look, I shook my head and tried to breath calmly. "Tris, I'm not a fucking Asari. I don't _care_ about the Republics. I only joined Intelligence because of Aethyta, why in Athame's name would I stick around if she left?"

That thought had apparently not occurred to Tris. "You'd... just quit? What about the investigation?"

"I know I-Sec has discretionary funds for private investigators." Though it probably wasn't all that large, "Use that, the money we're banking from salary and what the store has made here, and we open Trena's old shop full time. Would let us at least pay for shuttle trips when we need to head off planet."

"Still be losing access to all of our resources." She pointed out.

"Didn't say it would be easy, but... wait. "It was my turn to stare blankly back at her. "Our resources? Are you saying you wouldn't leave?"

"I've been in intelligence since before she was exiled to Illium. I mean, she's... done a lot for me, but..." Uncharacteristic uncertainty made her stare into the bottom of her empty bottle. "Dammit. Now I can't even be angry with you. About that part at least."

"If I get you another beer, will you forgive the rest of it?"

Blue lips twitched slightly. "It would be a start."

Snorting, I grabbed her bottle and my glass in one hand, seizing my cane with my other and using it to lever my body up to its feet.

Making my way back to the bar, I passed most of the tables where everyone was sitting. Nearest to where Tris and I had sequestered ourselves where Rane and Dorvahn, all six of their eyes focusing on a fold-out board game. It was a Turian thing, some kind of demented cross between chess and go, and from the looks of things he was trouncing her thoroughly.

She still gave me a small smile as I moved past, her upper eyes flicking up as I gave her a reassuring nod that everything was all right.

The next table held the twins, with Herani and Illyan enjoying their odd company. From the less than subtle flirtations, the bigger Asari was trying to turn their bizarre threesome into a foursome. Given that Ratha had shifted to be on her side of the table, and was letting his mandibles flex as she trailed blue fingers over them, she was well on her way to finally getting laid.

A meter beyond them were the two Salarians, both of them sipping from... jello like orbs sitting on plates. Don't look at me, I have no idea what the shit that was about, but they seemed to be enjoying them. Somehow they'd lured Voya over, the Quarian sipping through a straw in her mask while her fingers typed out words onto a tablet for them to read. I had no idea what the reclusive pair and the silent woman really had to talk about, but after thinking about it for a moment I decided I was better off not knowing.

And that just left Jarick, who was sitting at the bar talking with the young bartender. Her braided red hair ran down to the small of her back in the usual Terminus style, but her youthful features weren't as... hard as I would have expected. A new arrival, or simply lucky. Either way, the pair of them seemed to be enjoying a quiet conversation about popular food and drink.

Which reminded me that we really needed to broaden his horizons a bit. All he knew how to talk about was bloody cooking.

"Ah, Master MacKeanen." She turned away from the kid, hands already pulling a frosted glass from a rack. "Another Moonrise?"

"If you could. And whatever this bottle was." I tossed it onto the bar for her to examine.

Her lips curled in disgust as she turned away to start mixing mine. "Guinness, that weird blend they made to try and break into the Republics' market."

"It's... not good?" Jarick guessed, his feet making his chair spin a little as he spoke.

Barely looking, she reached out a hand and grabbed a bottle from a cooler, stretching awkwardly back to drop it in front of him with unnerving accuracy. "Try it."

"Um..." He carefully accepted it, twisting the top off after a moment's examination. "If you say so miss."

The brown bottle rose, tipped back, and then dropped onto the bar as he started coughing and spitting. Thankfully she'd already foreseen his probable reaction, because she pushed a water glass into his hands moments later.

"Jesus Christ that is..." His pale features twisted as he struggled to find words. "That is _vile_. And Miss Trisren drinks it? On purpose?"

"Apparently it's sort-of all right by Asari standards." The young woman gave me a little grin. "You want to try it?"

I snorted at her. "Don't even think about it."

"Just offerin'."

Giving her a bemused Batarian nod, I waved for her to go on while I twisted myself around to face Jarick. "You doing all right?"

"I... was doing better sir." A hand carefully pushed the disgusting drink further away. "Miss Alicia and I were talking about the kinds of drinks she makes for people, and what she thinks they mean."

"Goddess." My nose flared as I exhaled. "Dare I even ask?"

"Um..." He seemed to smother a small smile. "Apparently a human ordering an Illium Moonrise means he's spent too much time with Asari."

I opened my mouth to refute that... then thought about it for a few seconds. "Fair point."

The bartender, Alicia apparently, snorted as she turned around, placing the cold mug with its pale contents in front of me. "Honestly I just made that one up, I'd never actually seen a human who wanted one."

"Their loss then." A slow sip confirmed it was as well made as the prior, the smooth flavor entirely obscuring the normally bitter Asari alcohol. "Thanks."

"My pleasure sir." She gave me a polite bow, "And here's the other."

Shifting both drinks into one hand was a little trickier when they weren't empty, and I was seriously thankful for the handle on mine as I worked it out. "Thanks again. You two keep enjoying yourselves."

"Should be easy, Jarick's nice enough. And he doesn't stare at my tits like most of the customers do." The kid flushed a little, "Plus talking shop is a lot better than listening to Talons arguing about whether red sand is better than dust."

"Can't argue with that." Giving them both nods, I turned and headed back the way I'd come. I didn't need to head all the way back this time, Tris had migrated over to where Dorvahan and Rane were sitting. Her arms dangled over her Turian lover's shoulders as she stood behind him, her chin resting on his fringe as she watched the pair of them maneuver tiny tokens around the board.

"Throwing away your only Guardsman? Not the best move." She advised, making him growl as his mandibles quivered. "What? It isn't. If she shifts her General to that flank she could easily turn the game around."

Rane's coppery lips pulled back slightly as she promptly did so, shifting the power piece and following it up with a few rank and file pieces to seize that portion of the board.

The Turian stared at it for a moment before growling again. "Tris."

"Yes love?

He shook his head slightly. "Spirits. You always do this."

"Sorry," She chuckled throatily, shifting to kiss the ridged carpace stretching back from his skull. "But it's better when you're angry."

I rolled my eyes, stepping closer and holding out her drink as I did so. "Yeah, because we totally want to hear about that Tris."

Fingers promptly plucked it from my grasp, "Please, you've heard worse from Trena. You've _seen_ worse with Trena."

Glad to see she wasn't yelling at me anymore, I shrugged and moved to take a seat beside my own partner. "That doesn't mean I enjoyed it."

"Liar." She smoked slightly, taking a sip from her drink and apparently finding it far more palatable than Jarick had. "Most alien males don't mind seeing naked Asari."

"It was _Trena._ "

"So?"

Groaning, I took a long pull from my drink as Rane hesitantly patted me on the shoulder. "Just... go back to giving Dorvahn bad advice."

"And not get an answer? Come on Kie, did you like seeing her? I'm guessing you've walked in on her and Ghai."

Her and Ghai more than once because they didn't see the point in locking their freaking door until the latter had taken pity on me. And that one time she and a maiden she'd met at Forever had decided to have sex in the shop, leaving me to find them when I showed up for work in the morning. And the multiple times I'd had to go into her place and throw things at her unconscious body until she woke her hungover ass up.

"If I tell you that I _did_ like it, you'll tell Trena and she'll try to drown me for even thinking about her that way. If I tell you that I _didn't_ , she'll try to do the same for thinking she's ugly."

Tris shook her head as Dorvahn carefully began to adjust his lines. "It also lets you avoid saying you liked it in front of Rane here."

Said lowborn flushed a little, her lower eyes firmly on the playing board while her upper set avoided looking at any of us in particular. "Trisren, I'd very much appreciate not being dragged into this conversation."

"Hey, don't tell me you don't want to know. And aren't you supposed to be submissive and shy?"

"To me, sure. I have a title." I pointed out, shifting my own gaze to the game as the Turian finished reforming his battle lines to protect his flank. "Batarian society says you're just an alien, so she doesn't have to care about your opinion."

"That is a gross oversimplification, my Reyja'krem. And it makes it sound as if I was attempting to be insulting."

"I'm sure Tris knows you better. No, don't shift him there, move your sniper two spots back, gives you a clear shot between those two line troops to take out his medic." Dorvahn's mandibles flared in irritation as he lost yet another support piece, his indomitable victory looking less and less certain. "There. Now you just have to hold out and bleed him for a few rounds."

The Turian was too busy glaring at me to consider his next turn. "Is it so much to ask that she _lose_ one game that she learns?"

Trisren sighed, giving his fringe another soothing kiss before sliding around and taking a seat of her own. "Calm yourself, just because she takes all of your money when we play cards..."

"When we play _anything._ " He grumbled. "I still think you're a Spirit of luck reincarnated as a Batarian Rane."

The lowborn gave him a little smile. "Perhaps we can debate the theological implications of a Turian god installing itself in the body dedicated to the Pillars' wisdom after the game is completed."

"It is." Reaching out, he flicked a Talon to knock his General off the board. "You have a clear kill-zone and I no longer have a way to revive my wounded or redirect your shots."

Rane gave him a gracious nod before leaning a bit against my side. "Thank you for your assistance, my Reyja'krem."

Our companions glanced at each other, Tris lowering her voice a bit. "You sure you should be saying that title out loud Rane?"

I shrugged slightly. "It's only a matter of time. Let's face it, my disguise was never really all that good to begin with, and since Ayle identified my armor as being that of a Reyja'krem..."

The Asari's lips twisted as some of her good humor left. "Ayle. That bitch is becoming annoying. I don't suppose you're better at fishing for her secrets than you are at covering up your accent?"

The hand not holding my drink gave her a rather rude gesture. "She keeps her long term goals to herself. She's amusing to have around for drinks but isn't stupid enough to let it get to the point where she reveals anything."

My lover nodded her polite assent beside me. "We know she's formerly of the warrior caste, and is assuredly an Equalitist. It it difficult to ascertain more than that. I would like to believe that she is a Liberal, or perhaps a Traditionalist, but I fear that is only my hopes."

Dorvahn shook his head slightly, mandibles quivering. "She have any issues with you being...?"

"Ayle is apparently capable of differentiating between humans from the Terminus and those from the Alliance." I gave a little shrug before setting my drink down, wrapping that arm around Rane and pulling her a little closer. The lowborn let out a quietly pleased sound, letting her head loll to the left to rest on my shoulder. "Apart from that... she's got a group of her own mercs, all other Batarians, who she's arming up. And she's about as fond of you as you are of her."

"We're competitors. In a sense." Tris shrugged, her head dipping slightly with the motion. "Keep inviting her over, sooner or later she'll slip up. If she's reporting to SIU or if she has her own game... we need to know, either way."

I grunted, not entirely disagreeing. Even if I liked Ayle, which I did, that didn't mean I was naive enough to trust her. After all, it was only paranoia if there weren't people out to kill you. "Have you gotten any details about the operation yet?"

The pair of them shared another significant glance before Dorvhan nodded. "You first, how's the progress on her armor?"

"We just finished the first shipment." And it hadn't been all that difficult. True to her word, T'Ravt had provided all of the parts and materials for the upgrades. We were just the skilled labor required to put it all together. "Second one should be showing up second shift tomorrow. What does that have to do with anything?"

My Asari friend grimaced. "Only that the True Sons aren't much more than a prelude as far as she's concerned. Most of her people aren't even on station yet, but the fighting is supposed to start at the same time you get your next order."

"She's hiring every freelancer and minor mercenary group that'll take payment." The Turian continued, his rumbling voice low. "Her messages have been careful not to reveal much, but we're sure the Sons aren't more than a stepping stone in the river. It will give her a base with a hanger near her real target."

Rane let out a long breath, not moving from her resting place. "The Blood Pack."

"They're her obsession." Tris confirmed. "And lucky us, our fucking contract runs through dealing with them as well."

"That's for later, however. Our main focus first is to deal with _our_ actual target. Have you got anything for us on them?"

I resisted the urge to shrug to my right, since that would upset Rane's positioning and I rather liked her where she was. "Whatever rumors we hear from the Talons when they stop past. They're supposedly running low on manpower, and even lower on funds. Oh, Krom has apparently vanished. Either they sent him on one last mission or they ran out of cash to keep him on retainer. Most of the money is on the latter."

Tris nodded slowly. "As much as I'd like to kill that asshole, part of me wants to thank Athame he won't be around anymore."

"Maybe he threw another temper tantrum and killed a few of their leaders on his way out."

Dorvahn chuckled. "We can only hope Kie. Now, I do believe that the conversation is slowing behind us, and we have many long days ahead."

"Keep us updated if you could." I carefully nudged Rane, who let out a tired sigh before pulling away from me.

She gratefully accepted my arm, letting me help her to her feet as her head dipped low and to the left. From there it was just a matter of rounding everyone else up. Voya had shifted over to the bar, the Quarian nudging Jarick to say his goodbyes to the bartender as she noticed the four of us getting up. Trisren's own sniper and communications officer likewise stood, the two Salarians having finished their odd meals and were now conversing rapidly over something on one of their omni-tools.

Leaving only the problem table.

"Illyan, we're heading back."

The big Asari groaned, as did the Turian whose lap she was sitting in. "Boss..."

I exhaled, glancing at Tris, who merely rolled her eyes. "Fine, go have fun. Just make sure someone drags your bruised ass back to the shop before First shift."

She stared at me, both hopeful yet stunned. "Wait... you're... _letting_ me?"

"You keep questioning me and I'll change my mind and let Voya drag you back by your crest." Said Quarian seemed to perk up at the very idea. "Get going."

Illyan didn't waste any more time, almost leaping off of Ratha before dragging the twin to his feet. The Turian seemed entirely too amused as she almost dragged him along, Herani and his brother laughing as they followed them. Tris and I both tossed Alicia tips as we moved past the bar, joining everyone else in grabbing our helmets from where we'd left them on the table nearest to the door.

The Silver Blades plus one waved and called their farewells before heading right, while we replied and turned left.

"You two have fun?" I glanced at Voya and Jarick through my helmet as the four of us headed back to the shop.

"I rather enjoyed speaking with Alicia sir." The kid was moving a little awkwardly in the light armor we'd found for him, but he understood why it was a stupid idea to move around Omega without it. "She gave me a few ideas on things I'd like to make. And..."

I spoke when his voice trailed. "It was pleasant to speak with a human who's not insane like me?"

"I... I would never call you that sir."

"And insane might be a bit far, my Reyja'krem." Rane murmured thoughtfully. "A human who is more culturally normal perhaps."

"I'm not sure you can call anyone on Omega that, but it's probably closer. Voya, you survive all right?"

The silent Quarian shrugged in the Asari way, shifting her body so that I could see her hands make a short series of gestures.

"Good to know the Turian brandy was high quality at least."

Her head cocked to the side as more amused gestures followed.

"No, I'm not trying it next time."

She shrugged as if to say it was my loss before turning away, her slender arms stretching out before she relaxed.

We spent the rest of the short trip quietly talking amongst one another. Well, mostly Rane and Jarick, the latter regaling the former with some of what he wanted to cook for us. Voya and I mostly amused ourselves by listening, occasionally chiming in with words or gestures to give our opinions. I did have to admit that what was apparently a British take on Thessian blackfish sounded worth trying, an opinion that Rane agreed with because the pair of them quickly started working out what they'd need.

"Hopefully it will prove to be a better idea than your last, my Reyja'krem." My lover couldn't resist the slight tease. "Perhaps we should examine the extra-net to make sure there won't be any side effects."

I glowered at her through my helmet. "Trena never had any problems smoking it."

"Perhaps because she is an Asari, who find the leaves mildly intoxicating, as my people use it a slight relaxant." Her voice was slightly bemused. "Though the delay in the effect on humans is rather interesting."

"I made it to the bed before I passed out."

"If it pleases the Reyja'krem to believe that, this one will not contradict him."

Jarick actually giggled, stifling it into a fake cough when I turned to stare at him. Voya wasn't as easily intimidated, her body shaking in silent laughter the rest of the way. Letting ourselves into the shop, and quickly shutting off Glitch when he lived up to his name and tried to identify us as intruders, we locked the door before shuffling upstairs.

The young human was normally asleep during this particular shift, and so didn't waste much time in heading to his spartan room to pass out. For her part, Voya was quick to toss her mask aside, reselling as she usually did in the freedom of doing so.

She made sure to give Rane and I little smirk from where she ended up reclined on the couch, knowing full well what we would probably be doing when we retired to our bedroom. And to be fair... she wasn't wrong.

In the aftermath, her head rested on my bare chest while her dark eyes watched fingers play lazily with my facial hair. "Cieran? You are lost behind your eyes again."

I exhaled slowly, letting my left hand trail down her warm side. "Just worrying about things. Hoping about others. The usual routine."

Her head turned enough for her to kiss my skin. "May I ask the details?"

"Trisren. The True Sons. T'Ravt." Another sigh broke apart my words. "Wondering how many of them will come out of that fight alive. There aren't many kids left I'd wager, just the veterans."

"They are skilled enough," She allowed quietly, "But so are Trisren and Dorvahn. They will see their people across the desert sands."

"Athame willing. Or by the Pillars wisdom, whichever happen to be watching over them." I murmured, feeling a gentle tug on my chin. "What about yourself?"

Copper skin flushed slightly. "I'm... afraid my thoughts are more base than yours, my Reyja'krem."

One of my eyebrows rose, which only made her blush worse. She hid it by shifting again, scooting up enough to kiss the skin on my left shoulder. "I feel that if my lover has the energy to worry over such things, he could be doing something else instead."

I felt my lips curl at the edges as teeth gently nipped at me. "Or perhaps someone else? Someone who happens to be already unclothed and in my bed?"

Warm breath tickled my neck. "If he does not mind."

My heart started to accelerate once again as she pressed herself closer into my side, "Why would he?"

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

**Omega – Illium RI pipeline**

_User 1: Goddess be blessed, I needed that._

_User 2: Illyan? You finally got the ape into bed!?_

_User 1: No, the boss still wouldn't. A few of Tris's blades let me join them._

_User 2: How many is a few?_

_User 1: Three. An Asari and Turian twins. ;)_

_User 2: Turians._

_User 1: I don't mind it rough._

_User 2: Turians. Athame's ass, and to think that I slept with you._

_User 1: You liked it._

_User 2: Goddess alone knows why. The ape doing any better?_

_User 1: We might finally have a way for him to sleep, apparently those things you and Rane smoke will knock a human out._

_User 2: That's... wait, he hasn't been sleeping? Since fucking when?_

_User 1: Since... always? And... I think he's starting to have some anger issues._

_User 2: That much Ghai told me. Dammit. There are times when I want to bash his bloody fur covered head in._

_User 2: Athame's ass... right, first, tell me everything the Asari merc did to you. Second, whatever crap the ape hasn't been telling me._

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 10: The Warriors** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was hoping to get this one out during the week, but between work and needing to restart it twice because it didn't quite work properly. Hopefully this final version is solid enough, trying to strike the right balance between getting information out there as well as keeping the group dynamics going well.
> 
> The next chapter will see T'Ravt's campaign against the True Sons starting, and how the fighting is progressing.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	28. Act 2: The Warriors

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Warriors**

I grimaced as I accepted the broken piece of armor from Dorvahn, regarding what was left of the chest plate. "Seriously Tris, what the fuck did you do to this?"

The Asari grimaced, visibly wincing as she leaned back in her bed. "You mean what did Krom do it."

That name hardly improved my mood, not that I'd been all that thrilled to be dragged from Ironhold down to the Silver Blades' headquarters in the middle of the day's first shift. Illyan was minding the store, and Rane was asleep, so I'd only brought Voya with. She was currently out in the main room going over everyone else's battered equipment, while the three of us had retreated into Trisren's room to go over things.

It also ensured that Trisren wouldn't have to get out of bed and risk opening her wounds. The thin Asari's right arm was in a sling, and her shirt was ruffled where more bandages were probably wrapped around her torso. Her normally dusky skin looked a bit lighter than normal, which was probably a bad sign.

Covering up my concerned, I focused on the assassin. "I thought that the True Sons didn't have the cash to pay that asshole anymore."

"They don't." Dorvahn rumbled from where he was leaning against the bedroom wall. "He shot his way out of Gozu, taunting the True Sons on open lines as he murdered them. When we and the rest tried to take advantage of the chaos he was causing..."

When his voice trailed off into a rumbling snarl, Tris took over. " That fucking piece of worthless driftwood set off every trap they had on three separate levels. Mines, improvised suicide drones, reprogrammed turrets. One of the drones is what hit Ratha and Fec."

"They all right?" I had assumed they were, otherwise I'd have expected them to have lead the conversation with that.

Dorvahn nodded tiredly, "Fec is, just scratched up. Ratha... he'll make it, but he's not going anywhere for a while. Tris was trying to pull him back into cover when Krom hit her. We know it was him thanks to yet more damned taunting."

"Seriously ready for that man to turn up dead."

"What's your people's expression? Join the line?"

"Get in line. Or join the club. Either or."

"Pick one." He growled, glancing protectively at his girlfriend.

"If anyone is killing him it's me." Trisren's lips twisted. "I'm the one who's got the goddess-damned flesh wounds here."

"I'm the one who has to patch your armor. And I've had to put up with him before." I pointed out, hefting her armor back up to glare at the shattered plates and torn circuitry. "Though with how badly you tore this up I might just unpack a new set for you."

"Don't even think about going after him Kie." Her voice lowered to a growl, though the effect was somewhat ruined by a grimace of pain. "And I thought you were out of armor."

I gave her an Asari style shrug. "I've got a spare set for the both of you, been sitting on them since the first shipments got in. Seemed to be a good idea."

"Not going to argue." Another grimace. "Right, need to give you the details-"

"Trisren, I can handle that." Dorvahn cut her off, stepping away from the wall and moving closer to her bed. "You need to rest."

From her glare, his lover didn't quite agree.

I mostly tuned out the short argument that followed, waiting patiently for Tris to tire herself out from all the shouting. It didn't take terribly long, maybe five minutes, before she was panting and grudgingly accepting a bottle of water and some pain pills.

Dorvahn lowered the lights on the way out, barely letting me see her trying to relax as we stepped out into the circular main room. Apart from Voya, whose body language screamed irritation as she examined pieces of armor and gear, the only other occupant was Herani. The purple skinned Asari looked exhausted, but otherwise unharmed as she sat in a recliner and sipped tea.

"She going to be all right?" I asked only once the door was closed. "She looked pretty beat up."

"She'll be fine." His tone brooked no argument. "She's been through worse, you know that."

I know she'd been through worse. I'd had to pour medigel into bullet wounds that the medics could barely find amidst the burns. "Those aren't exactly pleasant memories for either of us Dovahn."

"What are... spirits, I'd forgotten you where there." Mandibles quivered slightly in suppressed emotion. "She doesn't like to talk about it."

That was entirely understandable, but hadn't I just said that _I_ didn't want to talk about it? "I'm sure she'll be all right. What details did you want to go over?"

The big Turian gave a last glance at the room we'd just left before gathering himself and waving a clawed hand to a pair of chairs nearer Herani. "Have you been tracking the campaign?"

"Obviously."

T'Ravt began her campaign on Boxing Day, though even most of the humans didn't recognize the holiday. It was... decidedly odd to be on the outside looking in, rather than being in the thick of things like I usually was. All we could really do at the shop was stick to our routine, and keep the Omega centric news sites running more or less at all times.

The True Sons original and primary fortress compromised a good portion of the Gozu district, in particular one of the many small self-contained 'spires' that stretched downwards within the main Omega spire. Combine that territory with the areas they'd seized during the Blue Suns war, and they had nearly thirty levels firmly under their thumb.

The Lady Warlord's primary target was the hanger and docking complex that stretched from levels nineteen to twenty five, and the connection tubes on level twenty eight that led to easy access to the Blood Pack warrens in the Kenzo district. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the True Sons leadership wasn't proving to be as stupid as I personally had expected. Ignoring Aria's standing orders concerning the station's physical components, they'd sabotaged all four of the heavy lifts that ran through Gozu, and had done so with gusto.

What that meant for Tris... she and the other mercenaries, and T'Ravt's regulars whenever they showed, was that they'd have to fight their way down floor by floor, cleaning out each one as they went. Nor were the True Sons making it easy on them. They'd fortified nearly every meter of each goddess-damned floor, and weren't ashamed to use the few civilians who they hadn't yet conscripted as cannon fodder or living shields when the situation called for it.

I shook my head as we sat down, Herani barely glancing up from her cup as we did so. "The broad strokes anyway, though the mess Krom left..."

"We were on level nine, we think he sabotaged everything as far down as twelve when he... quit." He shook his head slowly. "Though the Warlord's forces may make better time now."

"Could hardly be making worse time."

That brought the Asari into the conversation, her eyes snapping up to glare at me. "Don't talk shit MacKeanen. You aren't stuck fighting and bleeding in that goddess-damned spire." My hands rose in surrender to try and forestall the berating, not that it helped. "Why don't you fucking come with us the next time, then maybe you can-"

"Herani!" Dorvahn snapped. "Don't. Kie knows the kind of shit we're going through."

Purple lips pulled back into a snarl. "Doubtful."

"You ever been clinically dead?" He shot back, and I slightly enjoyed the way her eyes widened. The Turian looked like he was on the verge of saying more, restraining himself and exhaling heavily as his mandibles quivered before apparently regaining control of himself. "I understand that you're worried about Ratha, but don't take it out on him. Kie, refrain from making further stupid comments if you can."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I settled for nodding politely.

The Asari's anger had withdrawn into a sea of confusion for all of five seconds before it rolled back in. Growling to herself, she threw her cup onto a table, uncaring about the spillage, before standing and stomping over to a bedroom and vanishing inside.

"That went well _incredibly_ well, don't you think?"

My companion gave a low growl. "Kie.'

This time I did roll my eyes, waving a hand irritably. "You don't want me to be a smart-ass? Then don't ever bring that up again."

He blinked slowly, seeming to be as taken aback as Herani had been, before shaking his head slowly. "We don't have time to argue. T'Ravt isn't going to give us that much time to recover, not while we're still under contract. Have Trisren's armor repaired and ready to go as quickly as possible."

"Her spare set was made ready when we first arrived, we just need to get it here. Voya, how do the rest look?" The Quarian threw a battered chest plate halfway across the room, letting me see just how banged up it was when it hit the ground. She followed it up with a quick series of gestures, wordlessly answering my questions as I asked them. "How many? Don't include Ratha's... they all that bad? Shit... right, we can get that done by the day after tomorrow then."

Voya stomped one of her feet at that, crossing her arms and glaring at me in the way she normally did when I forgot something. Like the fact that we were in the middle of one of T'Ravt's orders.

"We'll close the store and let Illyan get the backups all setup, that should... fine, three days then."

Dorvahn let out a quiet rumble. "I tell you to calm down and you ignore me. She stomps her foot and you back down."

"You wouldn't knife me in my sleep if I pissed you off." I muttered as the Quarian turned back to check over a few more things. "And she's been... moody lately."

He glanced between us before letting out a whistling Turian snort. "Three days is fine. Hopefully T'Ravt will be understanding enough with our leader down, I'll update you if that isn't the case."

Recognizing the dismissal, I grunted and used my cane as a lever to help me stand. My knee was mostly better, I'd finally been religiously adhering to my stretches and work-out schedule, and I liked to think I was starting to get close to where I'd been prior to Korlus. Still, it was easier to use the weapon disguised as a walking stick, especially when I'd been awake for nearly twenty bloody hours.

"I'll have Illyan and Rane by later to grab the pieces we can repair, I'll keep you informed if we need more time."

The pair of us exchanged polite nods, then I turned and started moving. Grabbing my helmet from where I'd left it near Voya, I waited for her to take a few final notes in her omni-tool before we gave Dorvahn our farewells and stepped outside.

The streets were packed as they usually were at this time of day, made worse by the fact that tens of thousands had been displaced from Gozu and its surrounding areas thanks to the fighting. While it was relatively far away from us, the ripple effect ensured that there was still more people around than there had been just a month and a half ago.

As she usually did in crowds, Voya quickly stuck herself to my side, primly waiting for me to offer her my arm as I would for Rane. Once I'd done so, and her dainty three fingered hand was wrapped tightly around my armored limb, she graciously allowed us to begin moving.

For the most part the crowd parted for us, our obviously quality armor and weaponry making it clear that we were people of means, and thus not to be fucked with. I kept my external microphones running as we walked, trying to parse through the general din of conversation for anything interesting.

"...I can't believe he's trying to cheat the Eclipse! Does he have a death wish?" Probably.

"Two hundred credits for a bit of fun." She wouldn't get any takers in this district. Not at that price anyway. You could pay ten to spend an hour in the slave brothel not fifteen minutes away. If I was still stuck on this station when Vakarian showed up, I was contemplating ways to get him to obliterate that place the others like it.

"Is that a _highborn_? With a _Quarian?_ " Observant but not threatening, they weren't wondering how much Voya would fetch as a slave. Which was a good thing, because her reaction to that kind of discussion was predictable.

As was mine.

"How much is T'Ravt paying? That much... let's go boys, I think we found our next meal ticket." That one was actually good to know, I hadn't realized she was still bringing in freelancers.

"Aria still won't allow broadcasts out of Gozu, how am I supposed to know if they made it out!?" Knew that already.

"Touch me again, Batarian, and I'll burn your dick off with warpfire." A crowd quickly began to gather at the last, as someone began screaming in extremely high pitched tones. "Warned you!"

Despite the fact that he had probably deserved it, I still winced a bit and moved a little faster, making Voya's eyes twitch to let me know she was grinning at my discomfort.

"Shut up." I muttered, making sure the helmet-to-helmet channel was active. "You're not a guy, you don't understand it."

From the way her chin tilted back a little bit, she was quite happy about that state of affairs.

Things calmed down as we neared the edges of the district, entering the ramped tunnels that would bring us back to Fumi. The Talons had largely been keeping the refugees off of our level, instead directing them to the less populated lower ledges. We'd asked around for a reason, but the local patrollers only knew that the orders had come down from on high.

Which meant Nyreen, which meant I wasn't getting an answer. She'd effectively vanished since she'd made the deal with the White Tigers in the aftermath of seizing the True Son base, and everything we'd heard indicated that she was more or less holed up in the old recruiting center. Probably still trying to get the place in order to use as a command center.

As we left the crowds behind, my companion relaxed somewhat, eventually extracting herself to walk on her own as we stepped out onto our street. Everything seemed like a normal, calm first shift until we neared the store and heard the shouting.

"...fucking bitch! You _will_ give me a full refund!"

Voya and I exchanged a quick glance before accelerating, my fingers tightening around my cane's grip as she pulled an upgraded Acolyte off of her belt.

"For the last goddess-damned time, you didn't buy that piece of tide brought filth here!" Illyan bellowed back at whoever was shouting at her. "Now get your four-eyed asses out of here!"

Batarians then.

That was confirmed when I stepped through the door, motioning for Voya to stay back a bit as I moved in. There were four in total, wearing light to moderate armor, not the best quality but not the worst either. Probably freelancers then, I'd have said former Blue Suns but none of them were smart enough to be watching the doorway as well as Illyan and Glitch, and only one of them was smart enough to wear a helmet.

The Asari hadn't released the mech to combat mode yet, leaving it with its shotgun aimed at the floor as it's head swiveled between possible targets. Her own rifle was drawn but likewise held loosely in her hands, matching the fact that none of our 'customers' were actively aiming at her yet.

"You're a fucking liar blue." The apparent leader stepped closer to the cage, his voice somewhat modulated by his helmet. "Now either repay my five hundred credits, or..."

Points for not bothering with specific threats. Ominously trailing off like that let the victim's imagination fill in the blank. Or would have if she hadn't visibly relaxed at the sight of Voya and I arriving.

"Or you all can take a long walk in the desert without water." Two of them actually jumped, spinning around in shock to stare blankly at us. "It seems to the better alternative than continuing your rather transparent attempt to extort money from my store."

He turned enough so that he could see both myself and Illyan, so maybe he wasn't entirely an idiot. Though I couldn't help but notice the complete absence of any measure of respect in his posture. "The fake highborn. I was hoping that you would show up."

Tilting my head to display just how superior I thought myself above the lot of them, I noticed that one of the guys who had jumped reflexively started to bow his own before one of his companions growled at him to stop it.

"Here I am then." Shifting my cane in front of me, I wrapped my free hand over top of the one holding the grip. It served to make my look somewhat like Xerol, a highborn impatiently waiting for an idiot to get on with it. More importantly, it hid the fact that I was carefully adjusting the settings on my cane and removing the safety.

"Here you are, ready to give me my five hundred credits." I could practically see his grin as he confidently tilted his head to the right. " _And_ a new Avenger."

"One, no weapon in this store is so cheap as to cost a mere five hundred credits. Two, I don't sell Avengers." My voice hardened into a low growl as I counted my points off. "Three... if you keep fucking disrespecting me I will rip your eyes out."

While his friends seemed nervous, he only snorted. "You do have the attitude correct. How long did that useless bitch of a Reyja'krem spend training you?"

I throttled the anger down very slightly at the mention of Ayle, my desire for information outweighing my desire to bash his head in. "You have a problem with we Reyja'krem?"

His sneer might have been hidden, but it came through his voice all the same. "Stop pretending to be one of those pretentious relics, acting as though whoring yourself out to a highborn and then being tossed aside is something to be proud of."

Turning myself slightly, I focused on the youngish exile who had tried to bow his head. "You. What's your problem with Reyj'akrem Ayle?"

"Don't answer that-" His voice cut off when Voya snapped her gun up to aim at him, Illyan doing the same a few heartbeats later. His own weapon rose to aim at Illyan, but none of his companions seemed quite ready to reciprocate. "By the Pillars, get your damned guns up!"

"Um... they have us surrounded." Companion who'd nudged the polite one seemed far less than certain now. "And those guns look expensive."

"Gutter trash! I bought you your fucking armor!"

Nudge shifted uncomfortably, his dark eyes flicking between his leader and the other two. "Joth... answer the Reyja'krem."

The leader revealed his intent before his weapon started moving, the way his weight shifted right, his head tilting back in obvious display of fury. Even a petty leader such as himself couldn't take being defied in front of his enemies, and his knee-jerk reaction was thus sadly predictable.

My cane snapped upwards as I flicked my wrist, index finger pulling the small trigger as soon as it was in line with him. The gleaming orange blur of the tech-mine was followed almost instantly by Voya and Illyan reflexively opening fire as well.

He'd gotten his weapon half-way towards Nudge before the incinerate exploded, making him and his companions scream as the fire blazed in the confined space. It didn't kill him, his armor and barriers were sufficient to keep the flames at bay, though the latter quickly broke under the rifle and pistol fire from my friends.

But the actual kill went to Glitch. The mech had automatically gone active when my mine had exploded, its shotgun snapping up, the solid slug easily tearing through the cage mesh before smashing through his chest.

"Hostiles detected! Defending the store!"

Illyan snapped out commands before it could attack the rest, "Stand down! 2F!"

"Standing down, vocal authorization accepted. Requesting permission to eliminate surrendered hostiles."

"Denied." She growled, keeping her gun on the three remaining Batarians. Not that they were in any shape to really put up any resistance, my incinerate had seen to that. The blast hadn't been enough to seriously harm them, but they were all wincing and at least one had mild burns on his face.

Carefully lowering my cane, I grimaced as my omni-tool promptly began to alert me to a priority call. "We're fine Rane, just a minor disagreement with an extortionist."

My lover's voice growled in my helmet. " _Minor disagreements don't include explosions my Reyja'krem."_

"Using my cane was faster than drawing my gun." I defended myself, watching as Voya carefully shifted forwards, nudging the corpse with her foot to make sure it was dead. "And the rest of them surrendered."

" _Rest of them? Please tell me they aren't White Tigers."_

"They aren't, all Batarian... all lowborn exiles." Flicking my eyes left, I watched as Nudge and the one apparently named Joth carefully helped each other to stand. "We'll be up once we're done interrogating them."

There was a slight pause before she spoke again. " _Understood, my Reyja'krem."_

I was glad that my helmet hid my grimace as she cut the line. I had no idea how she managed to make that tiny sentence seem slightly disappointed, but she had. Worse, I had no idea why she would be... though I would probably find out soon enough.

Exhaling, I shook myself a bit before turning to where Voya and Illyan had herded the three and relieved them of their weapons. "All right. What the fuck was all of this about?"

The three exiles wasted no time in bowing their heads deferentially, Nudge speaking with almost indecent haste. "May the Pillars of Heart and Kin guide your weapon, Reyja'krem. The plan was entirely Hesh's."

"Begging for mercy and blaming the dead guy isn't exactly original, and I do believe that I asked for an explanation."

He shifted slightly, keeping his head bowed as he seemingly tried to work out his next words. When the silence stretched on to nearly a minute, I pointedly turned my gaze to the next one in line. "You. Joth. Out with it."

The young lowborn swallowed heavily, tried to duck his head even more subserviently as he started to stammer. "It w-was Hesh's plan, Reyja'krem. He hates Reyja'krem Ayle and knew she b-buys her weapons here."

One of my fingers tapped my cane's grip thoughtfully. "And he intended to what? Try and annoy us out of five hundred credits?"

Joth grimaced. "He.. wanted to see what kind of defenses you had, then talk our way out."

I grunted quietly. He'd definitely failed at the latter. "Then what, attack us later? The four of you would hardly be... who was sponsoring him?"

All three of them seemed to wince in unison.

Voya stepped a little closer, casually drawing a knife and giving it a little twirl to draw their attention to it. Joth nearly whimpered, he was the closest to her, and he seemed to start losing himself as she negligently rubbed the flat of the blade across his chest plate.

"If we tell you, Reyja'krem," Nudge cut in before his companion could simply tell us, "Will you let us leave here alive and unharmed?"

"Provided you aren't lying," I gave him a slight nod, "I have no desire to kill any more people today."

"A Hegemony Batarian. He didn't give his name, just provided payment. He said he represented people who wanted to see the old ways brought down, especially getting rid of the Harath'krem and Reyja'krem alike." Nudge glanced at the body. "Hesh looked like the Pillars themselves had spoken to him, the rest of us just wanted the paycheck."

My helmet concealed yet another grimace. "How did he hold himself? Midcaste? Warrior?"

"Both, Reyja'krem."

Illyan shifted uncomfortably beside me, while Voya glanced back at us. "Boss..."

"You three, get out. And take that with you." Fucking shit... I spent a few mental moments bitching out Athame for her poor sense of humor before continuing. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you what will happen if you return."

"The Pillar of Heart truly has taught you its wisdom Reyja'krem." Nudge bowed low, his head craned left. I twitched my own in the barest of nods, and the three of them promptly scampered, dragging their former leader's body out with them. Illyan followed them as far as the door, locking it behind them as they vanished.

"Boss..." I held up a hand to forestall Illyan again, trying to think as Voya glared at me and made a quick gesture across her throat. She stomped a foot angrily and repeated the motion when I didn't respond right away.

"Killing them wouldn't change anything Voya. Yes, I know they're going to run off and report to whoever paid them, but if they were all dead it would send the same damned message." My breath escaped in an annoyed hiss. "Either way the Hegemony would know something is going on here."

The Quarian didn't look like that was an acceptable answering, shoving her knife back into its sheath before stalking through the cage and heading upstairs. I yanked my helmet off as she left, setting the heavy thing on a display stand as I ran a hand through my hair.

Illyan copied me, her own concerned features coming into view as she put hers next to mine. "They were going to figure it out eventually boss."

"I fucking know that, but I'd have fucking rather it happened when we were on goddess-damned Illium." I snapped, wincing almost automatically as she flinched at my tone. "Sorry... shit, I didn't mean to go off like that."

She bit her lip for a moment, "It's all right boss, you haven't slept in a long damned time. You've got those dark marks under your eyes."

"It's not all right." My body shifted as I leaned heavily on my cane. "Fucking... you aren't on the list of people I feel like I can yell at."

"You yell at me all the time boss." The Asari moved closer to me, wrapping a heavy arm around my torso and helping me stand properly upright.

"I yell at you for trying to molest me. Or Rane. Not for trying to help me think through this crap." I muttered as we started moving towards the stairs, avoiding the blood smears across the floor. "Athame's ass. We're going to have to check the utility hatch daily. Or every shift."

The Asari grunted quietly as she helped haul my suddenly exhausted body up the stairs. "We could close the store."

"We'll have to. Too easy for them to just walk in." My lips twisted. "Fucking Hegemony... I'd bet that Aethyta won't be able to tell me if the SIU has a team on station, assuming she can be bothered to get back to us."

"You've got plenty of wind in your sails today boss."

Grimacing at the reminder that I'd been snapping at... pretty much everyone over the last few hours, I kept my mouth shut the rest of the way up.

The third floor proved to have all three of our companions already present, two of them glancing over at us as we awkwardly made our way through the heavy door. Rane quickly rose from where she'd been sitting at the kitchen table to join Illyan, taking my cane and helping me limp over to the table.

"I'm not injured dammit." I muttered as the pair of aliens manhandled me, "Just tired, I can walk on my own."

"Boss, do us a favor and just shut up for now." She entirely ignored my glare, instead glancing over at the young man sitting on the couch. "Jarick, sorry kid, but we need to have one of those conversations."

The kid's bald head had remained that way, apparently he liked not having to deal with hair, and he nodded before politely rising. "Not a problem Miss Illyan, I was about to go to sleep anyway."

He gave Rane and I polite bows of his head in the Batarian way, not mangling the motions all that much, before skirting around where Voya was leaning against the fridge and vanishing into the hallway. I vaguely heard his bedroom door closing as I was gently pushed into a chair, the Asari stealing my cane just to make it more difficult for me to try and stand on my own.

Which naturally just annoyed me even more. "I'm not fucking injured Illyan."

"Technically you haven't finished your rehab yet," She countered, tossing the weapon over to Voya who easily caught it. "By that measure you're still injured boss."

I gave her a mild glare, which didn't make her look abashed in the slightest. She dropped herself into the chair across from me while Rane took one on my left side. "Because you're bloody exhausted boss, and if you get pissed off some more the last of your energy will drain out to sea even faster."

"Illyan." Rane admonished quietly, before shifting her entire gaze to our fourth member. "Voya, please sit with us."

The Quarian's wide eyes expanded a bit further before furrowing as she frowned at the lowborn. Still, she did set my cane aside before stepping over to the table, pointedly shifting the chair a bit closer to me and away from Illyan as she sat in it.

"Just pointing out that he gets irritable when he's tired." The Asari muttered as Voya pulled out her small tablet and set it on the table. "Which is all the time lately."

_Are you sure it isn't simply exposure to your oh so admirable personality?_

Illyan glared at the smaller alien. "No, but _your_ lovely brand of psychopathy might be a factor."

_You did NOT just-_

"Enough!" My shout was enough for both of them to jump slightly, both of them turning to stare at me in something like shock. "Fucking enough all right? I get that you don't like each other. Pranks, fine. Direct insults, not."

There was a tight glare between them, easily revealing that each blamed the other for setting me off, but they did subside for the moment.

Counting to ten in my head in Thessian, then again in highborn, and then yet again in lowborn, I didn't quite calm down until Rane's hand found my leg under the table and gave me a very gentle squeeze. "Personal issues can wait for a minute. More importantly is what just went on downstairs, and how T'Ravt's campaign is progressing."

Voya and I took turns updating the others on the latter, including the injuries to both Trisren and Ratha. Illyan had paled at the later, calming only once I assured her that he'd live, he just wasn't going to be joining the fighting anytime soon. Or up for sex either. Once we'd gotten that out of the way, the three of us had summed up the short lived 'attack' for Rane. She took the news better than I and Illyan had, merely thinning her lips before pulling her pipe out and preparing it.

"In short, we have a campaign against the True Sons that is going poorly, but with little that we can do about it," She summarized as she carefully ignited it, drawing a mouthful of the pale smoke before continuing, "And it is probable that the SIU is now aware that there are indeed two Reyja'krem on station."

"And it won't take them long to figure out just who the boss is either." Illyan sighed. "Bets on how long it'll take for the first attacks?"

 _Two or three weeks._ Voya typed out slowly, her eyes narrowing in thought. She'd calmed down somewhat during the exposition, though that really wasn't saying all that much. _They'll want to confirm his identity, after that they'll start trying to work out his routine._

I grimaced. "And follow it up with ambushes, traps, snipers. Usual Hegemony operating procedure to wear at our pscyches if they don't kill us outright. Do I want to know how you're familiar with the SIU?"

 _I'm from Xentha. We had to deal with them chasing exiles and pirates fairly routinely._ She shrugged slightly. _They're skilled, if not terribly efficient at times._

Rane's lower eyes glanced in my direction. "Did we have a plan for this, my Reyja'krem?"

Another grimace. "Pack everything up and move into Trsiren's place. But with T'Ravt's orders..."

"They don't have the equipment we'd need to complete them." Illyan finished for me.

_We would also have to answer some rather pointed questions from the Warlord as to why we felt the need to live with our customers._

"So we're stuck here at least until our contract is up. Two more orders." I exhaled slowly, bringing a hand up to rub at my temples, trying to force my sluggish brain to actually work. "After that... if we shift to Trisren's place we're basically locking ourselves in, we wouldn't be able to leave. And we'd have to trust that none of her people would reveal us."

Which I didn't. Wilhelm openly resented Rane's mere presence whenever she ran a delivery, and I didn't know enough about either of the Salarians.

Illyan nodded slightly, "Or we can call it a job and set sail for home boss."

"It's an option." I admitted, glancing at the other two. "Might piss off Aehtya and Trisren, but I'm pretty sure Tris would at least understand. We dump all of our spare gear with them on the way out, they'd be setup enough to make it through the campaign. We'd miss out on whatever they find in the True Sons base, but she'll have to transmit that to Illium eventually."

"I would prefer that to being trapped in the Silver Blades chambers, my Reyja'krem." Rane murmured, her lips twisting a little at the very idea. "And I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I am quite tired of Omega."

All three of us glanced at Voya, who drummed her fingers slowly before typing her opinion. _I would not be opposed. Your doctor is on Illium, and I have nothing here that particularly ties me in place anymore. Though there is a third option. Tell T'Ravt._

"Tell her what? That the SIU is after us?"

 _Yes. We are her employees right now, she would look weak if we were killed. She doesn't have much love for the Hegemony, not that I've heard of._ She shrugged again. _I'm sure she could relocate us, and then you could stay for the duration of her campaign before we leave._

"Assuming that she'd allow us to leave once she had us." Illyan shook her head. "She's got no love for the Republics either, if she finds out that we're RI..."

 _We'd be dead, regardless of where we were._ Voya impatiently replied. _But if she protects us we could at least remain alive until her orders are complete, and then renegotiate for new tasks that last until your friend Trisren is done with her mission. Then we could use one of the cruise ships to leave, traveling with strength in numbers._

It was my turn to drum my fingers slowly. It wasn't a bad idea, and it was definitely better than the original one of just fleeing to the Blades. Especially with how on edge they all were with the fighting and their wounded. But it still meant that we'd be drawing the ropes holding us to the Republics' most wanted Warlord much tighter than I was comfortable with.

"This is too big to decide right now." I spoke after a few minutes of tense silence. "And too large a decision just for me. We'll all sleep on it and put it to a vote over dinner. Agreed?"

There were nods as everyone glanced at one another.

"All right. As much as it sucks, we're going to need someone on permanent watch from this point on, we can't trust the mechs on their own. Rane, you just woke up, so you're first." She nodded firmly. "Then Illyan, then me, then Voya. We'll let the kid keep doing his own thing, otherwise we're going back to Nos Astra standard time."

More nods before Rane spoke quietly, "That would conclude our official work, my Reyja'krem. The personal issues remain."

I exhaled heavily. "Besides my sleeping problems leading to irritation, what else is there?"

Illyan grimaced. "You didn't exactly try to talk those guys down in the shop boss. But I guess you didn't kill them after either."

"It was his choice to try and kill his companion. He could have shut his mouth and left at anytime." I countered. "Both before and after I arrived."

"Well... yeah, I guess." She still didn't seem entirely comfortable. "Maybe I'm just getting tired of killing people."

 _This is Omega,where life is worth little._ Voya shook her head slowly, unknown emotions rippling beneath her alien features. _You don't belong here._

"I don't think anyone does. Even people as fucked up as you."

The Quarian stilled for a moment. _Don't. Just don't.  
_

Illyan held her hands up, shaking her head before standing. "Boss. I'd suggest smoking but I don't think you'll have problems sleeping tonight."

The massive Asari vanished into the hallway without waiting for me to respond, leaving just the three of us. "Rane?"

My lover leaned over, chastely kissing the side of my neck before pulling back. "You have been more prone to anger, my Reyja'krem, but it does seem to correspond to how much sleep you get and how much stress you are under. I cannot help as much as I wish with the latter, not with everything going on... but I did leave my spare pipe and some Chehala on the nightstand."

"My thanks." I murmured, leaning against the brief brush of her fingers across my cheek as she stood. And then she too was gone, heading downstairs to spend several hours checking on both mechs and our external cameras.

And leaving me alone with Voya.

The Quarian glanced at me, purple lips thin as we regarded each other. _Are you going to ask how I feel, or are you finally going to inquire about how I ended up a slave to a pathetic gang?_

"The former. The latter is your business, agreement or not. You can tell me when you want or not at all."

 _I still don't understand why you trust me so much. Neither of your companions does. Well..._ She paused before amending herself. _Rane'li does, though only because she fears disappointing you if she does not._

"Rane says I trust too easily. And forgive too easily." I shook my head tiredly, glancing away from her to stare at the table. "Illyan insists I'm still a good person."

_Good is relative._

"Thank you for cheering me up with that."

She let out an annoyed exhale. _I meant it in a good way bosh'tet. By Omega's standards you are practically an ancestral guardian. Maybe humans from the Alliance wouldn't think of you as good, but they cower in their shelters, hiding from reality whenever it refuses to change itself to suit them. You have to deal with it daily, and you still let those three live._

"You didn't want me to."

_That's because I am not a good person._

"Part of you must be. Otherwise you would have left by now."

Her lips compressed into a tight line. _Don't Cieran. I'm a hollow wreck of a being even by the standard of my people, and I'm self aware enough to realize it. Don't try to coddle me._

"I'm not coddling you. Just pointing out that you could have left when you got what you wanted, instead of keeping your word." I exhaled heavily. "And that's one reason I trust you."

Fingers went still for a few breaths, then slowly entered her next question. _And what is the other?_

My mouth twitched a little on the sides. "For me to know."

Gleaming eyes blinked, then narrowed rapidly. _There are days when I hate you Cieran Kean. You did that on purpose._

"As if I would stoop so low as to arouse your hidden curious streak just to distract you from what we were talking about."

_I am going to hit you. And then cut your hair._

My eyes narrowed in return, a hand automatically reaching up to make sure my ponytail was still attached. "Don't even think about it."

The tablet shut off with a flick, her lips curling into a wicked grin that showed me her canines. She rose as I did, her dainty hands coming together to crack her long knuckles, her legs easily matching my pace as I tried to back towards the hallway.

A half-naked Illyan stomped out of her room five minutes later, yanking us apart with an annoyed growl. Or at least, she tried to. Voya may or may not have sucker-punched her in the side when she was trying to get between us, and I may or may not have slammed a booted foot onto her bare blue one, drawing a snarling yowl before a heavy fist hit my thankfully armored chest.

After that... well, things got a little complicated. And blurry. But at least I didn't need any help in falling asleep.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 11: The Scythe** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Lots of personal issues and a bit of self-realization from Voya as two very screwed up people talk with one another. This chapter came out to be a bit longer than most, mostly because there was quite a bit to cover, especially when it came to Cieran and his increasing anger and stress problems.
> 
> The next chapter is the Act finale, after which we'll have another two part interlude before the final act of Ronin begins. My game plan is to complete Act III before Adepticon, which is at the end of March, with the interlude coming after that little vacation. Once that is done... I'm not sure when AR: IV will hit. I'm probably going to take an actual break to try and write an original story for myself, so it might be a while. Then again, if people seriously love how the story is going I might be persuaded to work on both, so we'll play it by ear.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	29. Act 2: The Scythe

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Scythe**

The following week was rather tense, as one could very well imagine.

We'd unanimously agreed, after two more hours of debate, that our best option was to go to T'Ravt for assistance. At the very least, we could exchange further services in exchange for guards. I'd thought it was a reasonable enough idea, and so had the Warlord when we'd sent word through her people.

Trisren hadn't been thrilled about our plan, but had eventually admitted that she didn't really have a better idea. Penning the five of us in with her people would leave everyone cramped in, and that was ignoring the awkward questions that T'Ravt might ask if she found us living with our supposed customers. And obviously she didn't just want us to up and leave Omega, robbing her of her support team. We exchanged a few short conversations about the best things to say and admit to, boiling down to not all that much, before she was again hectically involved in the fighting.

Unfortunately, things hadn't exactly gone well. We were, after all, trying to negotiate with someone in the middle of a military campaign, and her people universally didn't seem to comprehend the urgency of our situation. Or they just didn't care. Didn't matter, by the fourth day I was sending irritated requests every other shift, simply requesting a time and place where it would be acceptable to meet with her or one of her higher ranking subordinates.

By day six they were apparently rotating who got to deal with my messages, because I started getting variations on 'shut up and we'll get back to you'. More polite than that, obviously, but the tone was unmistakable even in text.

"What's this one read boss?" Illyan glanced over from the couch when my omni-tool flickered to life.

Setting my cards face down, I glanced at the message. "Master MacKeanen, while the Lady Warlord fully intends to negotiate further with yourself, at this time her attentions are required elsewhere. We will contact you.. etcetera etcetera. Must be one of the Asari, the Turians are blunter."

The tablet in front of Voya flashed as her fingers danced on the keyboard. _That or they finally just setup a bot to automatically reply._

"Possible." Shutting the wrist computer off, I collected my game pieces and resumed inspecting them. "Is it seriously so hard just to set a fucking time though?"

"Not everyone is that sensible." Rane murmured from my left, carefully exchanging a pair of cards for two from the deck. "Especially subordinates such as those you have to deal with, my Reyja'krem."

"It does seem like those idiots need their bosses to think for them." Illyan agreed. "How's dinner coming Jarick?"

"A few more minutes Miss Illyan." The kid didn't look over from where he was carefully stirring a pot with one hand, while his other was flipping over whatever dextro-meat he was making for Voya. "I know Master Kean prefers his pasta to be tender."

Something in my cheek twitched. "How many times have I told you to make it however you want to?"

"Fifteen times sir. And you have asked me not to call you sir seventy-four times since I resumed keeping track." Rane quickly hid her grin behind her cards, Voya didn't bother, her small body shaking in silent chuckles. "Should I increment that to seventy-five?"

"Yes." Throwing my hand down in disgust when my three card exchange netted me a whole lot of nothing, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "Is that the last of our boxes kid?"

"It is sir. We're low on drinks as well... and pretty much everything else."

I grunted quietly. "We'll have to risk going shopping tomorrow. Probably all five of us."

My lover's upper eyes flicked my way, while her lower set watched as Voya pushed more credit chits forwards. "Tomorrow will have us in an awkward situation, my Reyja'krem. T'Ravt's people are picking up the last cases of finished armor next shift."

Which would leave us essentially unemployed, and essentially trapped inside of the store. While it was comfortable... well, as much of a shithole as Omega was, not being able to even go out onto the patio to observe the comings and goings on the street was becoming taxing on all of us. Illyan and Voya in particular. While the latter hated the crowds, she hated being confined just as much. It wasn't that she really _wanted_ to go out into the station proper, it was more that she didn't have a choice about it.

As far as the former... her stress levels were approaching mine. Trena and Ghai were barely messaging us except to assure everyone that they were still alive, and Erana wasn't being much more communicative. And what we were getting from her was tense and worried, which was setting off every alarm her sister had. Next, Ratha was still laying crippled in bed, and his brother and Herani were taking inordinate risks in battle to keep their minds off his wounds. The final wave hitting her mental levee was... whatever the fuck was between her and Voya.

"How long are we going to wait?"

I exhaled as Rane's voice dragged me back to reality, my fingers drumming slowly on the table. "We give T'Ravt's people their gear next shift, then we'll get some sleep. Hit the store and stock up for four days. If we haven't heard anything after that... we either go to the Talons or Eclipse for help, or we leave."

"Not the Eclipse." We all glanced over at Illyan as she rose from the couch, her lips pressed together. "We put up with them before, but I don't want to deal with those crazy bitches again boss."

 _As much as I hate to agree with the giant, I'd rather not become involved with their affairs either._ Voya paused typing to brush a few strands of white hair out of her eyes. _The Talons don't strike me as competent enough to protect us from the SIU either, not unless we relocated to their new headquarters._

"Illium then." I shrugged, not terribly broken up about it. "Or maybe half of us. Rane and I could remain behind to help Tris, two people can fit into their place easier than five. The three of you could go on ahead of us. Voya, that would give you plenty of time for your operation plus recovery. And Illyan could be with her sister again."

"I'd say that's close to being a plan boss, excepting the part where you two are still stuck here."

"We could leave once the True Sons are dealt with." Rane contemplated, "The Warlord does intend to use her own forces to deal with the Blood Pack, does she not? Trisren and her Blades would be little more than reserves. We could join you in Nos Astra in a few weeks time."

 _It certainly seems workable. I believe the round is mine, yes? Or can you defeat a Battle Line?_ The Quarian laid her cards out with a flourish, grinning when her opponent's lips twisted a little. _And I do believe dinner is ready, so no time to..._ Her gloved fingers stilled as her head cocked to the side. _Did you hear that?_

I couldn't hear anything besides the water boiling and meat sizzling. Rane however had stilled, all of her eyes narrowed in concentration. "A distant explosion... but it sounded like it came from beneath us."

That didn't make any sense. An explosion underneath of us that was loud enough for them to hear it would have shaken the station, and thus, us. Unless...

Voya was a beat ahead of the rest of us, her tablet flashing as she linked into the building's security. We'd setup a dozen plus sensors in the tunnel leading to the hatchway, each keyed into our local network. The hatchway itself was securely locked with a mix of tech and explosive mines and grenades ready to detonate should anyone trip the sensors or try to force it.

"Everything still green?"

She nodded hesitantly, wide eyes furrowing as she bit her lip. Long fingers beat out a slow rhythm as she ran one systems check. Then another.

And then all of the blood drained from her face.

"Voya..." I rose from my chair before my brain actually realized that my body was moving.

The Quarian's mouth worked soundlessly before she flinched, as if forgetting then remembering that she can't speak. She shook her head wildly before making a series of rapid gestures ending with a finger across her throat.

It occurred at the same time as another explosion _did_ make the floor shake beneath our feet, almost at once followed by the piercing alarm from Glitch's speaker and the roar of its shotgun. And for an instant, it felt like my heart stopped as the adrenaline hit, my mind racing through facts and logic as I tried to settle on how to fucking handle this.

I had my cane because I always had it to walk with, but no one else was armed or armored. And we couldn't risk being penned in on this floor, there wasn't a way out up here. We needed to at least hold them off of the second level, especially since we had enough fucking explosives there to demolish the entire structure.

Which left me stuck putting a friend's life in extreme danger.

"Illyan with me. Rane, Voya, armor and guns! And alert Tris!" All of us were moving even as I snapped the words out. The Quarian was past me as I started to move around the table, my eyes catching Rane giving me a piercing look, her head tilted sharply to the right in a rare and demanding request.

Don't do anything stupid.

Problem was... I was pretty sure this was stupid. Required, but stupid. Someone had to hold them on the second floor, someone had to grab our second mech from the balcony, if he was still there.

Someone was probably going to end up dead if our opponents were competent.

A few moments later, Illyan and I were hauling the heavy doorway open, the sounds of gunfire increasing sharply without the metal in the way. Far more worrying was the heavy swearing in Low Batarian, easily audible over Glitch's programmed statements.

"Intruders must withdraw or be eliminated!" Its shotgun roared as we pounded down the stairs. "Target killed. Additional targets detected! Advancing to eliminate!"

"Someone throw a fucking grenade up there!"

Throwing my feet forwards, I skidded to a stop on the second floor landing, Illyan nearly bowling me over as she tried to arrest her own momentum. Sure enough there was a dull _whump_ a few seconds later, followed by a second, and then third as the invaders apparently decided that overkill was the proper decision when faced with a kill zone.

I flinched as a sympathetic explosion keyed off of the third grenade, likely heralding Glitch's destruction. Which meant they'd have free rein of the first floor, including opening the doorway to let more people in. About the only good thing was that we kept all of our actual weaponry up on the second, not that we had much product left, so there wouldn't be anything they could grab.

Twisting around, I shoved my cane into Illyan's massive hands. "Take this, keep your fucking barriers up!"

She swallowed heavily but nodded, shifting it into a two-handed grip as if it was a rifle before focusing down the stairs. With her limited biotics she wouldn't be able to protect herself for long, especially without armor linked into her amp to give her a proper strength reading.

But I didn't have a fucking choice. I'd be dead in seconds without armor, she at least had a chance of survival. Athame willing, it would be long enough for me to get Fine off of the balcony. Assuming the second mech was still intact. If we could get him at the small landing, he could hold the choke point while she could use her singularities to keep grenades at bay.

I hoped.

Reaching the doorway, I yanked hard on the control lever even as I heard the first incinerate explode in the stairwell. Someone started swearing violently, and then a pistol's deafening barks echoed in the confined building.

"Warning! Combat detected!" Fine's flat voice had never sounded so fucking good, the mech shifting left to right awkwardly as it tried to shoulder its way past me. Its blue omni-armor was already online and gleaming, the Turian shotgun raised in an at-ready position. "Warning! Friendlies lacking in combat protection! Recommend withdrawal!"

"Shut up and advance to hold the stairwell!" Backpedaling as best I could, I slammed the heavy security door shut the second it's metal ass was through. "Position five!"

"Shut up order accepted, advancing to defensive position five."

Spinning around, I spared a quick look around the floor. Of course when I needed shit in a hurry was the one time it was actually cleaned up, the stock weaponry secure in its cases, T'Ravt's armor already packed up and ready to leave. Even if I did rip open one of the gun boxes, modern weaponry wasn't something you could just pick up and use. It had to be setup, loaded, checked... fuck, it normally took nearly an hour.

Fucking irony. An arms dealer in mortal peril because he didn't have the time to grab his own gun.

Ahead of me, I could see Illyan flinching as something skidded off of her shoulder, an orange streak flying out of my cane before the entire hallway lit up with reddish light. Fine was a third of the way there, advancing as quickly as its motors could propel it. Gritting my teeth, I moved after him. If I took the cane back, I could let Illyan focus on keeping her barriers up, and fire from around the corner.

The Asari fired off another incinerate, someone screaming in agony as the fireball detonated downstairs, and for a few moments I thought we could hold them off long enough for Rane and Voya to get down here.

And then Illyan tumbled backwards, my cane falling from her hands as tracer rounds stitched their way across her stomach, purple blood puffing into mists behind her as the metal shot exited her body.

She didn't scream, her mouth working silently as she stared in shock at her wounds.

"Illyan!"

"Friendly down! Medical attention required!"

I was past the mech, sprinting as my world narrowed in focus to where my friend was bleeding on the floor. I wasn't even aware of the footsteps pounding their way up the stairs until the first opponent stepped out, looming over her as the Batarian casually aimed a pistol at her head.

I didn't remember grabbing an armorer's hammer from a workbench. Probably Rane's, I'd moved past her station as I ran. But I was thankful that I'd done so when I brought the thing around in a wild swing that terminated in my opponent's throat.

It was the only weak point in his heavy, if scorched, armor. Something organic cracked horribly at the impact, his weapon dropping from his fingers as he reflexively clawed at his throat before tumbling backwards.

No, not tumbling, _yanked_. Another Batarian in black armor was moving up, his shotgun roaring. The majority of the shot went high and wide, but enough pellets hit my right arm to make my world temporarily go white with pain.

A second later a booted foot slammed into my chest, Illyan letting out a breathless cry as I landed on her. My vision swam back into focus in time to see him leveling his gun at my face.

He was a professional. There wasn't taunting. No wasted declarations of intent. Just ruthless and efficient execution.

"Priority ally disabled!" The SIU operative's head whipped right a millisecond before a solid slug from Fine's shotgun blew his helmet apart. "Covering allies, adjusting orders, advancing to position four!"

Wincing at the mech's shout, I rolled off of my friend and tried not to clutch at my arm. Above me, Fine stepped over us both, its weapon deafening as it finished off the man whose throat I'd crushed.

And then it was moving down the stairs, firing in a steady rhythm calculated to prevent overheating, working to prevent anyone from following the two upstairs. It wouldn't last long, they'd get the timing down just like we'd done to Shith's mechs. After which...

Shaking my head blearily, I tried to focus. "Illyan. We... fuck. Have to move."

"Cie..." Her voice cut off in a choking, pained sound. "Hurts."

Grinding my teeth against my own agony, I forced both of my arms to grab one of her massive arms. Ignoring the blood running down my own limb, I forced a knee beneath me and hauled. She gasped in pain, weakly kicking her legs at the wall to try and help.

Somewhere the firefight was continuing, someone shouting orders while Fine tried to update us to what its algorithms decided was the best course of action.

None of that mattered, because Illyan was leaving streaks of purple on the floor as she moved.

"Goddess." The oath was out before I could stop it. She'd been hit four times, three on her right side, and once in the forearm. I vaguely knew where the major Asari organs were, and I didn't think they'd been hit, but the arteries I was less sure on.

Grabbing her shirt, I snarled in pain at the pressure it put on my wound wounds, tasting blood as I bit my tongue and tore the cloth into a long strip.

"If you wanted to see... Athame..." She couldn't even finish the flirtatious remark, her head lolling back as she tried to breath.

"Just... be quiet. And don't die." Shifting a bit, I grabbed her wounded arm and started to tie off the makeshift tourniquet. "I'm not telling Erana you died on me."

"And... fuck, you'd miss me."

"That too." My head snapped up as feet pounded on the stairs, eyes trying to find where my cane had ended up. Before I could even lunge for it, Voya landed heavily on the landing, apparently having jumped the last several steps. Her now armored head swung in our direction, Acolyte held loosely in one hand as her silver eyes went wide in alarm at the sight of us.

I waved her off impatiently with my good arm. "Support Fine!"

She shook herself, nodded, and vanished down the next set of stairs, her omni-tool already coming to life to directly command the mech.

If she was already here, Rane had to be almost here. Raising my voice, I shouted as loudly as I could. "Rane! I need Jarick!"

There was a moment of silence upstairs and downstairs, then the gunfire promptly resumed while my lover started barking for the former slave.

"Boss..."

"I need someone to bandage you." Returning my attention to where it belonged, I yanked hard on the tied cloth, knotting it as tightly as I could just above the wound and prayed to Athame it was the right place. "And keep pressure on them."

She tried to shake her head, "He's... a kid..."

"He doesn't have time to be one." I snapped, letting my screaming right arm go limp while my left hand found the torn edges of her shirt and hauled it up to let me see the wounds. They were... bullet shaped. And bleeding. Fuck. I was a mechanic, not a goddess-damned medic. All I knew was that she needed medigel and pressure. And a doctor.

"Cie... Erana, tell-"

"Illyan. Shut the fuck up. Now." Her eyes went wide. "It's a few little fucking pistol wounds. I lived through worse, so you're going to walk this shit off."

She tried to smile, only for it to turn into a grimace of pain as her eyes rolled back as she groaned.

The stairs echoed again, Rane's armored form appearing on the landing. Like Voya, she froze at the sight of the blood pile, her torso twisting as her helmet swung our way. Unlike the Quarian, she didn't need me to say anything, jerking her head in a nod before flying down, joining Voya and the mech in trying to keep our enemies penned in on the first floor.

A moment later, the kid arrived, his reaction... was fairly predictable. "Master Kee...ee... oh my god..."

"Jarick!" The normally pale kid had become white as snow, the medical supplies Rane had probably made him grab barely staying in his shaking hands as he stared at us, and at where the bodies were probably still on the stairwell "Get your fucking ass over here!"

He jerked into motion, his body automatically responding to a superior's command. In a normal situation I'd be annoyed at the obedience, but right now I just hoped it would let him do what I needed him to.

"On the floor, right here. Get the medigel canister, no that one. _That one!_ Good, pour it in her wounds." The kid froze, staring at the small bleeding marks even as I tried to get bandages ready. "Jarick!"

The kid swallowed heavily before moving. I tried not to notice how badly his hands were shaking, or how much of the expensive gel ended up over her toned stomach rather than into her wounds.

Below us, there was yet another muted grenade detonation, quickly followed by a pair of crackling overloads. Then another grenade preceded yet more echoes as people moved back up the stairs, pistols and a rifle chattering in the characteristic alternating patter of people laying down suppressing fire.

Voya and Rane appeared as I had Jarick yanking Illyan's shirt further out of the way so I could apply the bandaging, the Asari grinding her teeth and squeezing my leg with her good hand as we couldn't wait for the anesthetic in the gel to kick in.

"We lost Fine!" My lover growled, her low voice barely audible over her gun sending another burst downstairs. "Several enemies down, at least eight still active. Maybe more. One squad came through the utility tunnel, most of them are dead but they opened the front door and let in another."

Shit. My vague plan had been to escape off the balcony if we had to, but Illyan wasn't going anywhere under her own power. And she was too fucking heavy to us to move, never-mind risk letting her drop from the second floor to the street. "How long can you hold them?"

"Not long if they have more grenades." Which they would. Athame's fucking...

"Move me." My head snapped around at the pained voice. "Closer to the stairs."

"Illyan."

"Boss. Only one who can." She sucked in a breath, "Get me your cane, prop me on the stairs behind them."

Athame's motherfucking... "Jarick, grab my fucking cane."

"But she's-" His voice jerked into a startled noise as I grabbed his shirt with my left hand, leaning across Illyan's prone form to glare furiously at him. "Y-yes sir!"

While he skittered away, I grabbed Illyan's good arm. Getting her upright proved to be extraordinarily painful for the both of us, especially as we didn't have the time to be gentle about it. I could feel her straining to not let out any sounds as she leaned against me.

We made it onto the landing, Rane and Voya blocking most of the sight of the stairwell leading down with their bodies as they kept up more erratic fire than Fine had, not giving the SIU any pattern to exploit. At least, not enough to risk racing upwards, but it was a far easier thing to whip a small disc around the corner.

Illyan didn't need someone to shout the obvious. The air around her crackled, light splaying across her body as she threw a hand forwards. Every hair on my body stood upright as the dark disk shot between our companions, the singularity snapping to life midway down the stairwell.

The incoming grenade slowed, seeming to hang motionless in the air before being dragged backwards, flying back towards the black disk. Her fingers jerked closed, a gasp of pain escaping her throat as she killed the miniature black hole moments after creating it.

And without anything else to affect its momentum, the grenade continued flying back down the way it came.

Someone shouted as it clinked off of the wall at the bottom before exploding, all of us flinching as Rane grabbed Voya, keeping her upright and blocking, their shields and armor protecting us from the fragments that made their way up.

Downstairs, at least two separate voices had screamed in pain, another voice shouting. "Hold the grenades, that blue bitch is still alive! Don't throw that you Pillars damned idiot, do you want to kill us all!?"

Illyan managed a tiny smirk, even as most of her weight seemed to fall on my shoulder. "Assholes."

"You are so hot right now." I muttered, mostly trying to perk her up a bit as I pulled her back towards the stairs.

"I bet... you say that to all the girls... who bleed on you.." She gasped as we managed to slowly back our way up, stopping about five steps up. Enough that she could see Voya and Rane, but hopefully far enough back that she'd be safer.

"Jarick, get behind her and patch her back. The bandages have instructions on them." The kid was still pale, still shaking, but nodded determinately and started grabbing the medical equipment again from where he'd left it on the floor.

"You... have a plan boss?"

A plan? She was bleeding, possibly internally. Probably. My right arm was starting to stiffen up, not wanting to move properly as the pain worsened. We'd lost both of our security mechs, and nearly every defensive scheme I'd ever come up with had assumed that we'd be defending against an external attack. Not against people who'd bypassed our security and broken in.

Fuck. Even if we'd killed two or three enemies with her grenade trick, that still left us in a shitty situation. They weren't poorly equipped, poorly trained gang members. We couldn't rely on our armor and tech mines to fight our way through it. And I didn't think they'd be so polite as to give us the minutes I'd need to get upstairs, get my armor on, grab my gun, and get back down here.

"Reyja'krem!" Rane and Voya stopped their suppressing fire at the shout, the speaker not so stupid as to expose himself. "The Pillars of Kin allows for a parley by its tenth verse. Would you speak with me?"

I snorted as Jarick took the stairs two a time, shifting out of his way as he moved behind us. "So you can shoot me more easily? No thanks!"

There was a deep chuckle, but he didn't deny anything. "It would be easier on your companions!"

"Because the SIU just _adores_ leaving survivors." A blue hand shoved my cane back into my hands as she let Jarick pull her into a seated position, her breathing labored as she tried to keep herself focused and ready. "Why are you stalling!?"

"None of your people have medical training. Your Asari can't last forever." The corner of my eye saw Illyan's throat work as she swallowed. "How long can you last without her biotics to protect you?"

Not all that long. Dammit. We couldn't even throw grenades back down properly, the first floor doorway confined the explosions too much. Especially now that they wouldn't be so stupid as to expose themselves after getting literally burned moments before. And with the front door and utility hatch open, they could... wait.

The front door.

Padding down the stairs as quickly and quietly as I could, my cane hit the ground as I moved towards the balcony door. I shouted as loudly as I could, hoping to keep them from trying to force their way up. "What do you propose then?"

"That the longer you delay this, the more painful it will be for all of you. Surrender now and we will make it fast."

"No you wouldn't." Rane shouted before I could, "We're well aware of how you operate!"

Reaching the door once again, I worked the lock, making sure that my body wasn't going to be exposed when the metal swung open.

"Then I suppose we're done talking. Don't worry, we'll be done long before your friends arrive. Assuming they ever do."

For a moment my fingers paused, then I berated myself for almost worrying about something a fucking _SIU_ commando was saying. Making a few final adjustments to my cane's settings, I exhaled, breathed quiet prayers to Athame, the Pillars, and God in that order, and then stuck my arm around the corner and yanked the trigger.

I wasn't aiming at anything in particular. Fuck, I was seriously hoping that I didn't hit anyone on the street. That's why I'd lowered the detonation range as short as I'd dared to. The heat baked my left hand, not enough to burn, but enough to know that I probably should have set the explosion to go off a bit further away. Grimacing, I twisted the cane upwards a bit and fired again. And then to the left, pulling the trigger again.

The sniper round hit my cane mid-fourth shift, my fingers screaming as they were twisted as my walking stick-slash-tech launcher was ripped from my grip.

My right hand pounded the control panel, slamming and locking the door again before anything worse could happen.

Silence reigned indoors for a few moments, and then someone started shooting. But not up at us. It cut off after a moment, almost at once followed by someone or something pounding on the front door.

I couldn't stop a small grin, for once thankful for Omega's peculiarities. On Illium, our neighbors might have seen explosions in the air like that and called I-Sec, who'd then have to make their way to where it happened. On Omega, our neighbors _were_ the local security, and the Talons usually kept at least three squads at the hotel just a block down the street.

Three squads who were some of our best customers, and who would investigate fireballs exploding in the air next to the store. And whoever had made the mistake of shooting out of the door had cemented the need for the gang to figure out what the fuck was going down in their territory.

Our guest shouted once again, while the pounding on the door grew and the shouting on the streets increased to the point where I could make out people shouting orders. "You are very clever for a fur covered monkey. We'll be seeing you, Reyja'krem."

Thank... wait. What?

Limping as quickly back towards the landing, I could hear people moving around downstairs. But no one was trying to get up them. No more grenades were being flung up for an unsteady Illyan to try and hold off.

"Are they seriously _leaving_?" I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice.

My lover seemed to glance at me, her helmet tilting slightly before she replied as quietly as she could. "Standard procedure, Reyja'krem. We're wounded, now homeless. They struck us and caused us pain, a worthy accomplishment in their eyes."

"They still could have rushed us... and then died." Realization came slowly as I leaned on my cane, wondering if bloodless was affecting my ability to think. "They'd have been stuck up here like we were."

"Indeed." Her posture shifted into worry for the barest of moments before she returned to her at-ready position.

The sounds stopped three minutes later, beyond the pounding at the front door. We stayed in place for another five, which was when someone outside finally just blew the entire thing in. Rane wanted to move over to help me, staying still when I used gestures to indicate she should stay. I was still breathing, and mostly upright. If this was a trick of some kind, she had to be ready to start shooting.

"Hail the camp!" A Turian's distinctive flanging echoed crazily off the walls. I thought it was Hetherus, but honestly I really had a hard time telling Turian's voices apart. "Identify yourselves!"

"Rane'li!" The lowborn shouted back. "Employee! The SIU just attacked us!"

There was a startled pause. "We're moving cautiously then, they probably set traps! No one in sight on this floor besides two destroyed mechs."

I sucked in a breath, having already made my decision while we waited. "We need a medic! Contact Red, tell her I'll trade the structure and what stock I have left for aid!"

"Spirits... MacKeanen, are you fucking serious?!"

"Fucking contact Red! Now!" My frayed patience snapped. "We need an Athame damned medic!"

He didn't respond with a shout, but a few breaths later I saw Rane and Voya relax before someone's footsteps began to pound. A few moments later an Asari in the Talon's distinctive red and black had appeared, she pushed past my companions before continuing up to where Illyan was slumped on the next set.

Following was indeed Lieutenant Hetherus, the Turian's mandibles flayed wide in shock as he caught sight of first Illyan, and then where I was leaning heavily against Rane's workbench to keep myself upright. "Spirits. McKeanen... those bodies on the stairs... what in the Spirits' holy names did you do to get Hegemony to send its kill teams after you?"

"That... is for Red." I exhaled, shaking my head to fight off a wave of dizziness. Fuck. "Call her already."

"Please." Rane added, letting her gun collapse as she moved past him, reaching my side in a few long strides before carefully inspecting my right arm. Which was by now... let's just say I wasn't looking at it for a reason.

Mandibles twitching, the Turian finally nodded, his silvery plates making me wince as they reflected the light. Soon enough his omni-tool was open, and Nyreen's voice was emitting from the tiny speaker.

" _Lieutenant, you have a priority situation?"_

"Ironhold Weapons was attacked, possibly by Hegemony commandos. MacKeanen is offering the building and his remaining stock in exchange for aid. I'm already providing medical assistance."

"She's going to need more than me!" The Talon medic snapped, grabbing one of Jarick's hands and shoving into place, "Press here dammit! A full surgery suite at least. That means home base."

I nearly sagged in relief when Aria's old flame didn't hesitate for a moment. " _I'm sending two shuttles, and am on my way personally. Stabilize the wounded, I'll discuss with MacKeanen on arrival."_

"We aren't secure." The words didn't come out as loudly as I wanted, force Rane to repeat them for me.

"The building is insecure, they breached out security. Can we move her to the hotel?"

The medic bit her blue lip, then nodded. "I'll need another one of my people to work a biotic lift in tandem."

" _Hetherus, handle it. MacKeanen... we're going to have a long conversation."_

My eyes closed as I nodded, cold running down my arm as my lover began frantically applying medigel. "Agreed."

* * *

**End Act II: The Fratricide**

* * *

_**Next up is Interlude III: The Recovery** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... this was a thing. Things are starting to get interesting, and ever more complicated. The next two chapters will be interludes from Trena's point of view, taking place back on Illium.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	30. Interlude III: The Recovery

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Interlude III: The Recovery**

_Date: 02-02-2182 (Two Weeks Later)_

"You don't seem very fucking happy to see us." I stated the obvious as I was glared at by three pairs of eyes belonging to two very annoyed people. "I'd go so far as to say you look more angry than anything else."

Ghai and I had just arrived at the hospital room that Doctor Sayran had provided for them a few days earlier. They hadn't bothered going through Aethyta, which was smart. They also hadn't bothered to tell us they were even on planet, which was fucking annoying. And rude.

"Cieran did give me permission to hit you as often as I felt like." Rane'li mused darkly as she glared at me, though I didn't miss the way she politely tilted her head to my bondmate as she shuffled past me. "He might be disappointed if I didn't take advantage of his allowance."

"He'd be pretty broken up." Illyan gave me a glare of her own from the hospital bed she was stuck in, her blue skin wan and decidedly unhealthy looking. "On the other hand, if you did beat her a few times, that would make him pretty happy. Boss could use some good news."

I tried not to flinch at the open hostility that they both seemed to be radiating. "What the fuck did I do?"

The ape's lover narrowed all four dark eyes at me. "Should we begin alphabetically, or chronologically?"

"If this is about the not contacting you thing-"

"That's just the first drop in the damned ocean." My wounded friend growled, pushing herself up a bit in her bed before wincing at the motion. "How about you _ordering_ my sister not to communicate with us? And then telling her _not_ to tell us that you'd done so?"

They'd talked to Erana already then.

Well... shit. That certainly explained her hostility. Fond memories of time spend in bed together wouldn't mean crap against her sister's welfare.

"Orders." Ghai spoke into the tense silence, her own face drawing into a wince as she eased herself into a chair by the wall. She still had another four months to go, but her tiny bump had swelled into something far larger. "Not willing."

Rane crossed her arms, not looking as if she accepted that answer. "Would Cieran have followed such an order?"

I didn't want to flinch and look at the floor, because it made me feel like a fucking ashamed little maiden again... but I did. The ape would have laughed in the face of anyone who'd tried to tell him something like that, which was probably why the bitch had never tried to get him to stop talking with me.

"If it is in some pointless effort to protect him then I find myself incredibly insulted on my Reyja'krem's behalf."

When I didn't say anything, too busy wallowing in my own fucking pool of pity and shame, my bondmate grunted. "Room clean?"

"Captain Vasir personally swept it three hours ago."

 _She_ fucking knew they were here before we did? How _little_ did they actually trust us? I mean, they had fucking reasons to be pissed, but... fuck. When I'd gotten the ape's message that he'd sent Illyan back here to recover from her wounds, and that he'd sent Rane along with to make sure she got back all right, I'd been ecstatic. I needed someone new to vent to about all the crap Aethyta was doing, and Rane was usually good for that. And Illyan was always good to see, in more ways than one.

But then I'd spent a few minutes fucking using my brain, and realized that the attack the ape described had happened _two fucking weeks ago_ , and his tone implied that he'd waited until he knew they were already safe in Nos Astra before sending it. He'd wanted to give them time to interrogate other people before confronting us.

And that... hurt. He was... dammit. I couldn't say he _shouldn't_ distrust me because I was keeping fucking secrets. I just didn't expect it to feel like this.

"Aethyta didn't want the Nightwind to find him." I exhaled heavily, "Whoever had the authority to send them has the authority to access Intelligence's fucking files. The more we contact you the larger the chance that they'd see through his tiny-assed name change."

The Batarian woman's down-turned nose flared slightly as she exhaled. "I do believe that I am quite insulted. You have so little faith in our ability to defend ourselves?"

"Illyan _is_ in a hospital bed the last time I fucking checked."

"Don't." My sometimes lover growled. "Is that why we didn't have any fucking weapons to sell anymore? To make us less of a target?"

"Yes." Ghai murmured. "Planned."

"Well it was a shit one."

"Agreed." Rane shook her head. "The larger our customer base the better protected we would have been."

I scowled at them both. "That makes no fucking sense."

The lowborn let out another hissing sound of irritation. "When the store is open we all stay in our armor in case of incidents. When we shifted to being closed all but first shift, we didn't see a point to wearing it in the downtime. Our customers would have also protested any efforts to attack us."

"They wouldn't have helped for the chance to fucking loot your corpses?"

"Do you _read_ our reports?" She scoffed, upper eyes rolling. "Our most common buyers are Talons and Eclipse."

I tried not to wince. "It was the old fish's idea."

"Does she read the crap the boss writes then?" Illyan tried for anger, only to end up sinking further into her bed as she tried to take deep breaths. "Athame's... hate this..."

"Rest."

She flicked her tired eyes at Ghai. "I'll rest when we get better reasons."

"You fucking know the old fish." Shaking my head, I shuffled over to the chair next to my bondmate and proceeded to collapse in it. "She makes it seem so damned sensible, like it's the best thing to keep his ass alive. And whenever we try to fucking argue she just waves it off. Not like we even see the bitch anymore."

"That is the main reason why I didn't simply strike you when you entered the room." Rane exhaled through her teeth. "And you couldn't have done much besides warn us. My apologies. Our anger is more for her than for either of you."

"We deserved some of it." I muttered, feeling Ghai gently taking one of my hands with her prosthetic one. The slight squeeze probably looked reassuring to the pair of them, but I knew it was more of a warning. "You going to be all right Illyan?"

"I'll make it. Talon doctor wasn't all bad, not that Sayran will..." Her words broke off into a massive yawn, continuing more slowly afterwords. "..believe that."

"She's being kept for observation, likely two or three weeks." Rane supplied. "She's also running a few bioscans to make sure that there aren't internal problems."

"That's not so bad then. Could definitely be fucking worse, those SIU fuckers aren't fun to mess with. How's the ape?"

The pair exchanged a glance that I didn't care for in the goddess-damned slightest. Illyan eventually broke, her eyes dropping to her lap as her fingers pulled at her blanket. "Physically or mentally?"

"Fucking... is he fine or not?"

"The round wasn't irradiated, or poisoned. He did suffer from a moderate case of blood loss, but nothing overtly severe." His lover's lower eyes flicked down to the floor, while the upper set wouldn't meet mine. "As far as his mind... he is sleeping better since he began smoking chehala before sleep."

I grimaced. "At least he's resting. What about your other two?"

"Jarick is... shaken up. It was the first time he'd been in combat, and it doesn't help that Illyan was his favorite person. Ideally he will learn and grow, but I don't believe he will be learning to fight." The lowborn paused before sighing, "As for Voya... I cannot claim to understand her. Cieran seems to, Pillars watch over him. Revenge doesn't seem to have changed her as much as she might have wished."

"Usual." Ghai murmured, shifting as best as her body would allow before resting her head on my shoulder. I let my head list that way, feeling her scaled skin against mine. "Revenge rarely heals."

Rane nodded slightly. "What about you? Beyond your problems with Aethyta."

I shrugged, making sure to do so to my left. "Same old shit. Trying to find one piece of debris in the entire damned ocean. The Erinle team finally got permission to launch their raid, but it left us with a few dozen fucking terabytes of sensor data and reports to shift through. Vasir's people are handling it."

They'd been handling it for nearly a month now, and it would probably take a few more before they had anything for us. Assuming they found anything at all.

From there the conversation shifted to Thessia and its politics, which put Illyan to sleep in about thirty seconds. We kept our voices down after that, but stayed in her room so we could talk without worrying about people hearing the shit coming out of our mouths.

I did most of the talking, Ghai speaking in monosyllables when she felt the need to, while Rane gently grilled me as to just what was going on.

The short story that the Outreach party lead by the T'Soni had strangely allied itself with T'Ravt's Isolationist bloc, both clans making deals with smaller groups to outmaneuver the few politicians that still had fond memories of Aethyta's old Militant party. Which really wasn't all that many, it was more that quite a few of Matrons who made up the bulk of the elected government were sick of the Thirty and its increasing levels of interference in the Republics' day to day.

Not that it had turned out to matter. It had taken them a few months longer than they'd have probably liked, but the old families had managed to get the issue reeled upstream to them to be discussed behind closed doors.

"Which means no one gets told anything." I muttered. "Not even us or the other team leads. We're all swimming around without the faintest fucking idea if we're following the currents."

"So not much better off than us and Trisren." Rane's lips curled a little. "You are making me feel worse for berating you."

The hand that wasn't wrapped around Ghai's torso waved dismissively. "I already said we probably deserved it."

She made a quiet, humming sound that made me glare at her.

"You're supposed to argue and apologize dammit."

"Perhaps if I didn't know you as well." Which was a depressingly good point. She knew I kept fucking secrets from them, and probably still was. Something she confirmed with her next words. "Promise me that whatever you are hiding from us, from him, isn't something that will put him in danger like the lack of contact has."

"It won't. And if I think it will then fuck that old fish, I'll tell him anyway." Ghai grimaced slightly, pulling back enough to wordlessly ask if I was sure. "Don't give me that look. I've been against not telling him from the start and you know it."

"Better for him." The same argument continued to run its course. "Wouldn't help."

"Maybe not. But if it gets fucked up like everything else in his life I'm not keeping shit from him."

Her blue lips twisted a little, but she stopped arguing, instead letting her head return to my shoulder.

Rane split her gaze between us, blinking with both sets of eyes, but nodded slightly, allowing us to keep things concealed. For now.

"How long are you staying?"

It was a blatant change of topic, but the Batarian woman went along with it. "Until Illyan is discharged, my Reyja'krem is worried that the SIU might try to finish her off if they track her here. And while he would like to have faith that I-Sec can keep her safe, he is sufficiently paranoid to wish for more protection."

I grunted. "You already talked with Vasir? Good. I'm not doing much right now, I'll take shifts with you so you can get some sleep."

"Thank you. But please don't try and have sex with her here. I don't want to have to explain to everyone that she was re-injured in that way."

"No promises." My lips curled at the edges. "Now let's talk about the fact that you call the ape _yours._ "

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: She's still keeping secrets, my Reyja'krem._

_User 2: It's scales. She always has secrets._

_User 1: These apply to you, apparently. She wants to tell you but Ghai and Aethyta disagree. She did promise to reveal things if she thinks it would put you in danger._

_User 2: Huh. That's... something. If Ghai doesn't think I should know... not sure how to think about that._

_User 1: Agreed. It might have something to do with-_

_User 2: Rane, that can wait. And forget the politics for now. Are they doing all right?_

_User 1: Trena is tense. Moreso than normal. They are being kept in the dark as much as us. Ghai seemed tired, but that may just be her condition._

_User 2: She's pregnant, not dying._

_User 1: I don't think she cares for it. She was constantly touching her bond-mate and staying close. I think she feels vulnerable._

_User 2:Not overly surprising. Erana and Illyan?  
_

_User 1: I was nearly deafened from the shrieks of happiness. Then the wailing that her sister is wounded. Then more wailing when Illyan described your 'heroic defense'_

_User 2: Athame's... get her to stop that, please._

_User 1: I'm sorry Reyja'krem, but the link seems to be corrupted. I didn't receive your last message._

_User 2: Rane._

_User 2: Rane'li._

_User 2: This is Trena's influence, isn't it. Or mine._

_User 1: Trena is looking over my shoulder, she says not to lie about enjoying it when I'm 'defiant'._

_User 2: Be a dear and punch her for me. And say hello to Ghai._

* * *

**Next up is Interlude IV: The Unwelcome**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Illyan made it, but she's off the Omega team, and Rane is temporarily off station to help make sure she's safe. We also see a bit of how Trena and Ghai are doing, and how they're being left in the dark as much as Cieran and Trisren are as far as what Aethyta and the government are doing. The next chapter will take place after a short time skip, taking place right before Rane leaves Illium for Omega once again.
> 
> Massive thanks to everyone who reviewed, I honestly expected little as normally Sunday releases are rather slow but... wow. Special thanks to those who reviewed for the first time or who aren't regulars, it's always good to hear from people
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	31. Interlude IV: The Unwelcome

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Interlude IV: The Unwelcome**

_Date: 03-17-2182_

When I stepped out of Illyan's room the day before she was due to be released, I expected to be able to walk downstairs to get some food. I'd been watching over the big idiot while she slept, mostly wasting the time away by annoying the Ape by comm messages while he was at Trisren's base working on something or another.

It was amusing, but eventually we'd run out of banter, and companionable silences didn't work so well when you weren't in the same room. Or on the same planet. And really he wasn't doing shit anyways besides slinking around inside of some gang's fortress, only emerging when Tris's people needed things repaired, so there wasn't much for him to update me on.

Of course, now we'd have plenty to talk about. And I was going to be fucking hungry for a while longer.

The person who'd stepped into the center of the hall to block me met my glare in equal measure, her black eyes narrowed as she kept her head perfectly level. She was wearing something similar to what her uncle might have, a maroon suit that looked like it was made from some kind of silk. Fucking bitch made it look good too, which just made me even more fucking annoyed.

"T'laria." My name was more of a snarl than actual words.

"Bitch." I growled back.

Nysni Shaaryak's lip curled slightly before she regained control of herself, a hand motioning for the two escorts I'd barely noticed to remain sitting in the lobby behind her. I recognized both, old veterans from Chen's squad, and from the way they were averting all of their eyes from me they remembered me just fine as well.

"I see our time apart has not improved your manners in the slightest."

Ignoring the barb, I crossed my arms and glared up at the tall alien. "What the fuck happened to make you show up here?"

Her mouth opened hotly, then snapped shut as she seemed to silently growl.

"Fucking informative. I'm hungry as shit, so either get out of my way or I'll bounce your rich ass down the hallway."

"You'd be arrested for assault."

I sneered as I started moving, "Vasir would let me out inside of a breath and you know it. She always liked the ape better than you."

The bitch flinched at the mention of her old lover, which was... odd. But then something even fucking weirder happened _._

She moved. Out of. My way.

Without a word.

I veered as far around her as I possibly could, shoulders actually touching the wall as I turned to keep my wide-eyed gaze on the bitch. Someone was dead. Someone had to have died. Or she was dying of some incurable Batarian disease. Fuck, maybe it was sexually transmitted. Could Batarians and humans even suffer from the same viruses?

"I need to speak with you."

I froze just as I was about to actually turn my back to her. She hadn't moved as I had, not even to watch me, leaving my staring at the back of her head in something like shock. "What the fuck did you just say?"

There was a very Batarian hissing sound as she inhaled, then repeated herself. "I need to speak with you."

"Athame's fucking... you know what? I don't give a shit what you need bitch, so why don't you march your expensively dressed ass out of here."

Spinning on a heel, I made it about a meter before she spoke again. "It's about Balak. And my former Harath'krem."

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit SHIT.

A quarter of an hour later we were in the cafeteria, a plate of processed food in front of me as I glared across the table at her.

"May I begin now?" She asked acidly, fingers drumming impatiently as I sipped from my glass of water.

"No." I growled back.

"Pillars damn you T'laria. I know you don't like me but this is-"

" _Like_ you? I _hated_ you even when you and the Ape were having sex on a daily basis." I spat back, "After the shit you did to him? I _loathe_ you."

"The feeling is entirely mutual then. Can we get this over with so I don't have to suffer your pathetic excuse for an attitude further?"

"No. I already told you we're waiting on one more."

Her upper eyes rolled. "I don't see why Ghai needs to be here for this discussion, the sooner we're done the better."

"It isn't Ghai, which is good because she'd probably hurt herself trying to not bash your fucking head in." Though that would be fun to see. Maybe after. "She just walked in anyway."

The bitch turned her torso to glance at the entrance, and promptly froze into rigid immobility. In the doorway, Rane'li had done the same, not moving a millimeter until an annoyed patient nudged her until she wasn't blocking the way anymore.

Sitting back, I took another slow sip of my drink and enjoyed the show. The Ape's former lover and current lover both looked like they were the slightest twitch away from violence, the new arrival carefully picking her way towards us without letting her head shift an iota in either direction. The bitch likewise tracked her movements with her torso rather than her neck, her lips thinning with each step the exile took. Grinning a little at her discomfort, I made sure to tense up my biotics in case I had to throw one or both of them to the floor.

"Rane." I couldn't keep the mirth from my voice, not that I tried all that hard. "Thanks for showing up."

"Trena." Her normally low voice was practically subvocal, "What is _she_ doing here?"

"Bitch claims to have information about Balak and the ape." Said bitch twitched slightly as Rane took a seat, still not offering respect as a lowborn should have. "Right, we're all here. Go ahead then."

Shaaryak ignored me entirely, focusing on the other Batarian. "Rane'li. I see Cieran had you escort Illyan."

"Matriarch Shaaryak." The lowborn replied in equally frosty tones. "The Reyja'krem cares about the lives of his people, and would not seem them hurt unnecessarily."

I hadn't thought it was possible for the highborn to tense up further, but she managed it. "I see Omega has eroded your personality."

"I see that yours remains just as it was when we departed."

I couldn't resist cutting in. "Are you joking Rane? She's way more uptight now that she's not getting laid."

Teal covered skin rippled as her hands formed into fists, all of her teeth fully on display as her lips pealed back. "Did you want to hear what I've discovered about the Hegemony and the Balak family or not? Because I could very easily leave you both to writhe in darkness."

Rane stilled, some of the vicious anger fading. "No you wouldn't. Not if Cieran was in danger."

The highborn flinched as if Rane had just struck her. "I declared him Reyja'krem. I owe him nothing, this is entirely for my own reasons."

Yeah, sure it was. "Which are what?"

Her voice lowered to the low, dangerous tones I remembered from firefights. "Balak _lied_ to me. As did his Grandfather. They deceived me and took advantage of my ignorance. For that I would see them both consigned to the desert sands to die alone, but was before I met Kaharial's father."

"Your point being what? He's an even bigger asshole?" I shrugged to my right just because that direction would annoy her. "Not breaking news."

"The fact that he is now the family Patriarch is." She snapped. "His father passed away last week, and his death has put plans into motion."

Rane stilled. "I thought Commander Balak was set to be his grandfather's heir."

"He was convinced to reconsider by the Patriarch's Council."

From the way the ape's girl had gone silent, that wasn't a good thing. "All right, what's the fucking political shit that's causing a problem?"

"Patriarch Balak may have been a liar, but he was also a Traditionalist." Shaaryak explained irritably, "As is his grandson. But the middle generation is more radically conservative, and he entirely opposes the idea that any species could be the equal of our own. His elevation shifts the power in the Patriarch's Council towards his way of thinking."

"So?"

She hissed furiously. "Dammit T'laria, use your fucking brain. In the last week alone fourteen alien Harath'krem and five Reyja'krem have been killed, and those are merely the ones that my allies have told me of. What is left of the Fist of Khar'shan movement is rallying the other radicals to try and counter the lower caste's rapid support of the Traditionalists and the warrior castes's Liberal bloc."

"And the SIU has been entirely supportive of the Fist since its inception." Rane murmured, her eyes narrowing in thought. "That might explain the attack."

"They intended to go after Cieran regardless, being human was sufficient."

"And you didn't think to fucking warn him?" I growled.

Shaaryak flicked all of her eyes at me as if I was an idiot. "I know my... the Reyja'krem. He isn't stupid, he would have known that Balak at the very least wouldn't let him vanish without at least a token attempt."

I didn't miss the near slip. From the way her lips thinned, Rane didn't either. "Did you have anything else relevant?"

"I would offer incriminating messages possibly indicating that Commander Balak or his father had something to do with the hotel massacre, but something tells me that you are already in possession of them." When neither of us did more than stare at her, her lips twisted a bit. "I thought so. I have people employed by my family on Khar'shan launching their own investigations. While I do not enjoy the idea of speaking with you again at any point during the remainder of my life, it would be beneficial to share information from this point onwards."

And she was fucking right. The bitch. There was no way, short of Athame herself stepping out of the ocean on Khar'shan and depositing spies, that we'd be able to get the kind of information out of the Hegemony that she could.

But that still left a question. "Why? What the fuck did Balak do that set you off?"

"Which Balak?" The highborn's voice became quiet and bitter. "Would you like to detail how the youngest informed the Hegemony's media that I was little more than xenophilic whore? How the new Patriarch has blocked me from appearing before the Council, and introduced laws to further restrict the power females can hold? Or perhaps how the eldest sabotaged the trade agreement with the Board of Directors by having his grandson's SIU agents corrupt the messages I sent to them?"

I winced a little. Calling the bitch a bitch went with the territory, after the crap she'd done to the ape. But I'd more or less assumed her life after we were out of it would be the same as it had been back when she'd been Xerol's spoiled niece and heir.

I hadn't really thought that the people who'd seemed to support her would tear into her like that.

"Don't look at me like that." She snapped. "You feel no sympathy for me so I would appreciate it if you didn't attempt to deceive me by acting as if you did."

And just like that, it was gone. Good riddance.

"Fine bitch. We'll trade information. We find crap blaming the Balaks or SIU for the shit in the hotel, we'll bring you in. You do the same. Then we work out who gets to kill who. Deal?"

"We are in agreement." Her tall frame rose from the chair with that, turning as she started to stride away. She'd taken four steps before she stopped, not looking back as she seemed to wrestle with something before bowing her head. "Rane'li. When Cieran and I... when he was named Harath'krem, were you with him?"

The lowborn stared at her back. "Would you believe me if I told that we were not, highborn?"

There was a long pause. "You are with him now."

"I think that's pretty obvious bitch."

"Yes... I suppose it is. Is he...is..."

Another sympathetic pang made me want to swear at the bitch. The pair of them had been horrible for each other then, and remained that way now. Fuck, it would have been worse now that the ape was finally learning to stand on his own rather than relying on me or her for direction. Any kind of reconciliation would just lead to more pain, I'd seen it often enough in my almost four centuries of goddess-damned life.

But there was still fucking pain in her voice.

"He is smoking chehala now." Rane spoke into the awkward silence. "It helps him to sleep."

For a second, I thought Shaaryak was going to whirl around and begin demanding more details about his life. Then she put that rod back into her back, nodded minutely in thanks, and strode out of the cafeteria without another word.

"That could have gone better."

I exhaled heavily. "No shit. I need a drink."

"I will watch Illyan if you agree to bring back several for me."

"Deal."

* * *

_**Next up is Act III: Ronin** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. We finally see Nynsi Shaaryak make a cameo return, and it turns out her life hasn't exactly been sunshine and rainbows since she kicked Cieran and company out of it. And she and Trena are still... well, they still cordially hate one another, no surprise there.
> 
> Next chapter will see the final act beginning, it'll mostly be a recap of just what Cieran, Voya, and Jarick have been up to while Rane's been gone. After that... well, a whole lot of crap is going to go down. Seriously. A lot of shit is going to happen, to the point where the chapter title format is going to shift in the final chapter to make it clear that the initial stage of Cieran's short life is over.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	32. Act 3: The Time

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Act 3: Ronin**

_Date: 04_ _-23-2182_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Time**

The shuttle slowly spun around as it entered the small hanger, the Talon's logo prominently featured on the vessel's black painted flanks.

"Thanks again for this Red." I murmured as the engines cut out, the engineers and staff moving in to start caring for the small ship.

On my right, Nyreen Kandros shrugged in the Asari way, her mandibles flexing slightly. "None are needed, the work you and yours have done around the base these past few weeks would more than have paid for her passage even if it was not originally part of our arrangement."

"Still seems polite to thank my host." My weight shifted onto my cane, "Especially since I don't know when you're going to inject yourself into my training regimen again."

"If it was predictable it wouldn't be as useful." She chuckled softly, "How is your back?"

"The claw marks are mostly healed, though my pride is still recovering." Well... sort of. Getting my ass handed to me by Aria's former lover in hand to hand wasn't all that surprising. I liked to think that I could have put up a better fight though, or at least been spatially aware enough to not be taken by surprise next time. "Were you going to come to dinner tonight?"

"For a few minutes. My people enjoy themselves more without their leader hovering about their crests. I'll put in an appearance and then withdraw."

I grunted, but the shuttle doors finally swung open before I could comment further. Several freelancers, both mercenaries and otherwise, began trotting down the ramp. Nyreen and I exchanged polite nods before she stepped away, watching as her people guided the new hires off to one side to give them the usual welcome speech.

She liked to see how they reacted when they didn't know who she was, instead simply hovering nearby throughout the entire initiation. The results tended to be... interesting. Still, that all was easily tuned out, as I was far more interested in the Batarian woman trailing after them, a travel bag held loosely in one of her hands.

"Rane'li." Something twinged in my chest I saw her copper toned skin, the familiar way she formally ducked her head to the left in submission as I shifted mine slightly to the right. "It's been... too long."

"As you say, my Reyja'krem." She stopped in front of me, all four eyes blinking in confusion. "Your fur... is blue."

A muscle in my cheek twitched. "Voya switched the coloration. She thinks it's hilarious."

"And your..." Something like laughter made her words quiver. "... around your mouth?"

"She waited until I was asleep and died it." Another twitch. "It's not that funny."

"I'm sorry my Reyja'krem, it's just... _blue_." A hand clapped over her mouth to smother a cackle. I stayed serious for a few moments before ruefully smiling, the absurdity of how I looked with dark blue hair not lost on me.

She calmed down after a few moments, her body twisting as she glanced around. "This is our new home then?"

"It is." Turning, I took advantage of the motion to slid my right arm around her waist and pull her against me as we started moving. There was a quietly pleased sound at the touch, her bag shifting from one arm to the other so that she could respond in kind. "It's... different. Surprisingly not all that bad though."

Rane's lower eyes flicked down the casual dark clothes I was wearing, "Secure enough to move about without armor?"

"The True Sons sealed all of the secondary entrances when they took over, and the Talons reinforced the blocks in the first few weeks. There's only three ways in or out, all with security checkpoints." My left arm waved at a passageway as we passed it, slowing enough to let her see several Turians moving with purpose away from us. "We're the only guests here, or allowed inside the main area. There's a secondary hanger that they converted into an aircar lot and waiting room, that's where the traders bring in food and supplies, but they aren't allowed in past that point. No exceptions."

"Intelligent."

I grunted in quiet agreement. I wasn't sure if the protections were meant more to keep problems out, or to let Nyreen actually walk around without needing to worry that Aria would find her at any moment. It certainly had allowed her to be more open with herself than she had been when we'd last worked with her.

Either way it worked out for us, because it meant that there wouldn't be a repeat of our store. The SIU would have to shoot or blast their way in to get to us, and even if they made the attempt there would be two or three hundred irate gangsters ready to kill them for the intrusion.

"Apart from that... well, it's a gang base, even if they're a bit more militant than you might expect. We're safe enough, that's the important thing for now."

"The deal remains then?"

"We can stay until the Blades' contract is up with T'Ravt, then she'll give us a discount on shuttles for both us and them back to Illium." Another shrug. "Voya and I have been doing odd jobs around the place so as to not seem ungrateful, and Jarick more or less was appointed the head cook when one of the Lieutenants ate his food."

Which had been a rather amusing day. The poor kid hadn't had any idea to react to people practically _begging_ him to make food for them. While Nyreen hadn't initially been thrilled with the rather grandiose meals he enjoyed making because of how much food was needed, she'd backed down when several of her senior officers had pointed out the sharp rise in morale just from the few meals he'd organized so far.

Instead she'd restricted it to an every other local-day event, which served to both conserve supplies as well as to make her people all the more appreciative of the times when he rolled out his multi-course monstrosities.

"It's been good for him." My voice lowered a bit. "He was pretty much a wreck after you and Illyan left, it gave him something to do that he actually enjoys doing. Athame knows Voya and I aren't exactly any good at cheering him up."

There was a quiet humming sound, which was probably as far as she was willing to go when it came to that topic. Not that she didn't like Jarick, I thought she didn't mind him personally, but there were... cultural considerations. That she knew that I didn't like them is why she never brought them up, and went out of her way to treat the kid like an assistant or staff member rather than what most Batarians would have considered him to be.

She was trying, to the degrees that she could. And I appreciated that massively.

"Anyways. We're living in something like an apartment in what used to be a slave bloc. They were converting it into dormitories around the time you left, and let us help with it." I grimaced as I guided her down a side hall, heading towards the area in question. "It was the only section with pressurized doors, and I didn't want to have Voya stuck in her suit all the time."

"Is she... all right with the location?"

"No." Understatement of the millennium. "But she didn't want to feel like a flotilla princess, her words, either. We knocked down enough of the walls to make it not feel like what it was, but it's hard to forget."

Rane grimaced slightly. "Do the Talons...?"

"No. Red doesn't run slaves or we'd have already left." They were one of the few things they didn't run. Nyreen wasn't so naive as to think that she could change Omega. I'd gotten a better feel for her during the last few months than I'd had just from the games and occasional discussion earlier. She was very much like T'Ravt in that she wanted the chaos to be a bit more organized, but operated on a smaller scale because of their differing situations.

Nyreen didn't have problems with drug running or usage, so long as it was done intelligently with consenting individuals. Children, the infirm, and the hardcore junkies didn't receive so much as a micro-gram of red sand or dust. Dealers were expected to keep detailed records of who bought from them, and how much, to minimize the chances of overdoses or extreme addiction.

It wasn't a perfect system, mostly because the competition didn't share her morals and took up the slack when her people wouldn't sell. But that was why she was preparing to expand again, hoping to continue her work of cleaning up the station.

"We're right here." We slowed to a stop next to a metal airlock, the outer door sliding aside when I typed out our password. "Red is the only Talon with our code, we have to update her when we change it. Which is all of the bloody time, Voya insists."

"She's still upset that the SIU bypassed her security?"

I winced a little. "Best not bring it up. Please."

"Understood, my Reyja'krem."

The air cycled when we shut the door behind us, the cheap denomination machines working to make the air a little cleaner. Voya had spent most of the first two weeks miserable and sick, and still had occasional reactions to crap that got tracked in with us. But she was still breathing, and still glaring furiously at anyone who dared broach the idea that maybe she shouldn't be so quick to expose herself.

Not me, I'd learned that lesson. Mostly Talon medics that she'd tracked down for medication and immune-boosters.

I let Rane go ahead when the process finished, the inner-door opening to our new living quarters. It wasn't much to look at, but then again Ironhold hadn't been that great either. The original design had been like a prison, basically a long hallway with cells lined up on either side of a single walkway. Communal showers had been placed at either end.

The Talons had cut the long hall in half, installing a new wall to do so. They were still working on the other side, but that had given us a decent amount of space to work with. With plenty of help, we'd knocked down eight or so cell walls to give us a 'living room', and removed the divider between another pair before setting up portable cooking and refrigeration equipment as a make-shift kitchen.

There were still eight cells intact, converted into bedrooms with the bars and mass-effect fields removed for honest doors, and the showers likewise had curtains installed to offer some privacy. Jarick had taken one of the cells for his own, not having any problems with sleeping in one. He was probably in the kitchens, even if the meal he was orchestrating wasn't for another ten hours he still liked to hang out and talk with the cooks. We'd have to stop by later to let him know that Rane had made it back alive.

As we entered, our Quarian companion glanced up from where she was lounging on a battered couch, lips pulling back into a grin as she saw us.

"Voya..." Rane's voice trailed as she stared at the alien woman before she sighed. "I see that the Reyja'krem retaliated."

The smile faded into an annoyed grimace, a three fingered had rising up to touch the splotches of black in her otherwise white hair. It hadn't been easy to do, especially as I wasn't so stupid as to try and do anything while she was asleep. Instead I'd ended up waiting for her to leave before replacing her purified hair-cleaner with the fast-acting hair coloration that she'd stolen from me in the first place.

She'd taken it rather calmly, waiting until she was done washing before she tracked me down and punched me in the face. Then again I'd hit her over the head with my cane when I'd realized that my hair was turning blue with a black streak rather than the other way around.

"It was the proper thing to do." I defended myself. "And now she knows not to do that again."

Arms crossed defiantly.

"I already told you it was going to be bright green next time."

She flinched, then huffed and glanced away.

"Pillars. Please tell me that you did not take Illyan's place in their private war."

"Of course not." Turning, I pushed a button to let the airlock door close. "That would imply I was on her side. Speaking of, how'd she take being left behind?"

"Well enough, all things considered. She put up a show of being upset but I think she was too happy to be able to stay with her sister to be truly devastated." Rane turned away, spending a few moments to take in the room and its battered old furniture, in particular the two couches that both had blankets and pillows piled at their ends. "The pair of you have been sleeping out here then?"

"Yeah." I shrugged a little uncomfortably. "It's a little hard to forget what the True Sons used those rooms for."

Air whistled through her teeth, but she nodded all the same. "There truly wasn't a different room that we could have used?"

"Nothing where Red was comfortably with us installing an airlock and isolating the vents. This hall already had both setup." Though their reasons were about what you'd expect. It was easy to quiet your slaves if you had canisters of knock-out gas rigged to spread throughout the hall's separated ventilation system. Naturally we'd remove those, and Voya snuck in the utility rooms every other day or so to make sure no one was trying to pull anything.

I was pretty sure that the Talons had noticed, but so far none of them had commented on her checks.

"Which room are you keeping your things, Reja'krem?" Her bag shook a little as she shifted her grip. "I'd rather put this down before we talked further, if that is acceptable."

"Of course, it's the third on the left."

Rane stepped over to brush our lips together, making me grin a little as she stepped away, heading for the hall. I may or may not have also let my eyes wander downwards a bit, enjoying a certain part of her body as she moved.

The corner of my eye saw Voya rolling her eyes, almost collapsing back on the couch as she did so. Snorting, I gave the Quarian a rude gesture before turning to shuffle my own way towards the other piece of furniture. "She's been gone for nearly two months, I can look."

Gloved fingers rose and flicked in a complicated pattern.

"Don't give me that. I appreciate all of Rane, not just her ass."

A tiny snort came out of her small nose, followed by more signed Khellish. We'd expanded on both of our vocabularies while Rane was gone, though it mostly remained keywords followed by my brain assuming the intent. Neither of us had really seen the point in going all out when we expected to be on Illium within one or two more months.

"No, I didn't tell her about the diner. Or that thing with Dorvahn." Another silent word made me wince. "Or the warehouse. I was going to let you handle all that."

She twitched a little before viciously stabbing a finger in my direction.

"It was _not_ my fault." I growled back, flicking my eyes to make sure Rane wasn't already on her way back. "The diner was entirely you. And Dorvahn and I were drunk. And the warehouse was just a fucked up mess."

Arms crossed in front of her chest, a foot tapping the floor as wide eyes narrowed to slits.

"We've been over this, that diner wouldn't have ended up on fire if you hadn't lost your temper."

The tapping accelerated.

"Ok, yes, that idiot pilgrim deserved to get beaten up for hitting on you like that, but you went a bit overboard."

Voya pursed her lips a little, verging on pouting.

"Yes, you did."

"She did what?" I glanced up at Rane's voice, the Batarian woman exiting the short hallway as she returned. "Please don't tell me it was another prank."

"Not unless you count burning down a restaurant as a prank."

My lover's mouth dropped open. "A restaurant was... what? When did this happen?"

"That was... what, about two weeks after you left?" I glanced at Voya, who frowned in though before nodding in agreement. "There was some kind of issue with the food here, shipment of dextro was contaminated or something, so we went out with a few Talons to a diner."

An omni-tool flicked to life on the other couch, long fingers tapping out words. _There was a flotilla brat there, and not an intelligent one either. He seemed to think that having found a gift for his bankrupt kin was supposed to impress me._

Rane grimaced as she moved to sit beside me, splitting her eyes between us as she sighed. "I don't need to read the Pillar of Knowledge to guess what happened next. Did he survive?"

_Unfortunately._

My eyes rolled. "Everyone walked away alive, if a bit beat up. And a little singed."

_For the tenth time, the fire was not my fault. That Krogan was the one who threw that Salarian onto the oven and knocked those oils pots over._

"And who got him involved in the fight?" Gleaming eyes narrowed. "See? Your fault. I didn't even get my food."

A petite foot his the floor as the Quarian glared at Rane. _I blame you for his insanity._

"The Reyja'krem isn't insane." My lover defended me.

_It happened weeks ago and he still complains about his stupid food!_

"It does seem like a long time." She admitted, shifting a little to press against my side. "Perhaps you should let it go my Reyja'krem."

"I thought you were going to be on my side in this."

"What did you order?"

"Miso and blackfish. Was a human-Asari place, strange couple." I shook my head a little at the memory of the young Asian man and his Asari counterpart. "But the place always seemed to be packed. Tris said it had great food too... now I'll never know."

There was a humming noise as she lifted hand, the fingers finding my goatee as she fell back into her favorite habit of playing with it. "That does sound rather good, and rather saddening."

_You could at least wait a few days before you take his side with everything._

"Perhaps. I did find myself missing you as well."

Voya blinked. _You missed me?_

"Very much so. You might not have met Trena T'laria yet, but I assure you that you will enjoy punching her. It would have been nice to have you along."

I couldn't help but snort at the mental image. "She that bad?"

"She averaged ten questions about our sex life per day. I counted." My skin tingled as her fingertips trailed across my face before starting to run them through my tied-back hair.

_So you wanted to ask me to be your thug._

"She wouldn't have to ask." I shook my head a little. "Trena's probably my best friend but there's definitely times when I want to punch her."

"There are times you _have_ punched her."

"True."

 _There are times when he's punched me too._ Voya pointed out, her nose wrinkling a little as she continued. _Rane, I know you've probably missed him, but you can stop with his hair. Or at least wait until I'm not here before you lose control and attack him._

The lowborn flushed a little, but did withdraw her hand, taking my hair-tie with it as she did. Sighing a little, I shook my head enough to make the blue strands even out over my shoulders and back.

"It's so long now." From her tone she didn't mind that in the slightest. "As is yours."

Voya swallowed slightly, a hand rising to brush her spotted spikes around a bit. She didn't perpetually look like she'd just been electrocuted anymore, if only because her hair was too long. Instead it remained oddly rigid near her skull, the weight only slowly pulling it down in arcs. The effect left it looking rather like a lion's mane, albeit a slightly ridiculous one thanks to the black spots. _Please tell me you aren't coming onto me._

"No, of course not. You just..." A smile made my lips move as she briefly returned to the easily flustered woman I'd met two years ago. "Just... Pillars, you look good but I don't mean it in _that_ fashion."

_Sorry. There's just a few Asari in the Talons who've been... as forward as Asari usually are._

"I'm sorry." Rane sympatheized. "I know entirely what you mean."

_I know. It'll be nice to have someone who properly understands, Cieran is too used to just tuning it out._

"You can blame Trena for that." I shrugged a shoulder. "And Illyan."

 _I already blamed the latter, but it is good to have someone else to hold accountable._ Her mouth opened in a silent yawn, arms stretching outwards. _Regardless, going to need your help tomorrow Rane. We salvaged Glitch and Fine but I need your help fixing them up._

The lowborn dipped her head politely. "Of course. Have you made any progress?"

Voya and I both winced. "Glitch may or may not have tried to kill everyone in the armory when we switched it on last week. It didn't have his gun because we aren't stupid, so it settled for trying to strangle Voya."

Rane groaned. "Friend or foe algorithms are probably off again."

_That's what I thought, but they looked fine to me. Wanted you to take a look._

"I will."

_Thanks. Now since Cieran blamed me for the resturaunt, he can tell you all about his little spat with Dorvahn._

"Reyja'krem..."

"We were drunk. Very, very drunk."

There was a sigh before a hand patted my leg. "I thought you weren't going to be drinking heavily while I was gone."

I winced a little, glancing away. "We'd just gotten your message about Shaaryak and I needed some time. Not every day you find out that a government wants your head delivered on a plate."

_Trisren let Dorvahn drink with him, I was stuck as the designated don't let them do anything stupid person._

"Which you did such a great job of." I muttered. "You recorded the pair of us rolling around on the floor trying to punch each other instead of breaking it up."

_It amused me._

"What started it?" Rane cut in, her time away not enough to make her realize when she needed to cut in before Voya and I's bickering could gain momentum. "The pair of you aren't the types to do such a thing."

"I said something unflattering about Shaaryak, he thought I was talking about Tris." My ribs throbbed a bit at the memory. "And since we were drunk..."

 _Neither one was capable of properly explaining themselves._ Voya typed the words with every sign of relish. _So they started fighting. I'll show you the recording tomorrow, it's very entertaining._

"It wasn't _that_ bad."

_Seven destroyed chairs and five hundred credits worth of drinks wasted when you smashed their bottles disagrees._

"Cieran..."

Her tone made me duck my head a bit in shame. "Trisren made sure we knew never to do it again."

 _Which I also recorded, it's equally as amusing._ Voya covered up another silent yawn. _But for now, I believe I am tired. So go away._

Snorting, I still rose and politely helped Rane to stand, "Remember Jarick has his dinner thing next shift."

_Yes yes, wake me up in eight hours. Now leave. Said that already._

My right hand was busy wrapping around my lover's waist, so I used my other one to give her a rude gesture in her own language before the pair of us left her. I hit the lights on my way out, though I was careful not to look back.

Friend or not, I'd seen enough horror movies to not really enjoy the gleaming light from her eyes in the darkness.

Entering the cell turned into a room, I paused outside to kill the hallway light as well before following Rane in. There really wasn't much to look at in the small space. A small bed shoved in against the far wall, cheap footlockers along the left side rather than actual furniture, and not much else.

"Where do you keep our armor?" Rane asked as she knelt down to open her bag, ruffling around inside of it.

"Room across from ours, there wasn't enough room in here."

Dark eyes glanced up at me. "Reyja'krem... you're already uncomfortable, aren't you?"

I winced a little, "Am I that transparent?"

"To me." She rose back up to her full height, tilting her head politely to the left. "Perhaps to Shaaryak and Trena."

Another wince made me turn away, staring at the bed as I sighed. "Shaaryak. She just _had_ to get involved."

Footfalls echoed in the small space, strong arms wrapping around my chest as she pressed herself against my back. "I'm sorry, my Reyja'krem. I... thought it best to be honest with what she said and how she acted."

I grunted quietly. "It's all right Rane."

There was a long pause. "Would you... like me to sleep elsewhere tonight?"

I blinked before turning around, my own arms rising to touch her waist. "Athame's ass, why the fuck would I want that?"

Her head dipped, none of her eyes meeting mine. "Because she's... the two of you..."

"Rane." Taking a slow breath, I let it out in a long sigh. "What happened between her and I is over. Plenty of regret on both sides, and I'll admit to missing her occaisionally, but it's _over._ I'm with you now and I don't intend for that to change."

"But I'm..."

"Rane, you know I don't _care_ what your caste and level were."

"It's just..."

A low growl made her body go still, her head autmatically dipping far to the left to submissively expose the right side of her neck to me. "Rane, I don't _care._ You know that... wait."

Rane didn't move her head, but she did let out an apologetic little sound, her hands wrapping around my torso to stop me from pulling back. Her voice was very quiet when she did speak. "It's been a while since my Reyja'krem took his lowborn."

It had been. "So you got me annoyed on purpose."

"This one thinks her Reyja'krem gives her too much credit."

"Your Reyja'krem thinks he nearly forgot how clever you actually are." Leaning down, I let my breath play over her skin, enjoying the way she quivered slightly. "He also thinks you're wearing far too many clothes."

* * *

_**A Scaled Perspective** _

_**That Day, Nos Astra, Illium** _

"I heard that one of your companions has returned to Omega." A dark blue hand negligently shifted a piece on our game board, the Justicar ironically moving to threaten one of my mercenaries. "Rather clever of them, taking shelter with the Talons."

"I'll tell the ape you approved." I muttered, still not sure _why_ we were playing this stupid game. "It'll make his day."

Jona Sederis gave me a mild glare. Anyone else would have been swimming for shore if they saw a shark look at them like that, but I was inoculated. Or fucking stupid. "Don't be snide gears. Though I am a touch insulted that he didn't approach Jaroth."

"You can't be fucking surprised by that."

"I didn't say that I was. Are you going to take your turn or should I simply slay your Matriarch now?"

"I'm thinking all right? Athame's ass I don't even know why we're doing this."

"It's supposed to help us bond."

Fucking waste of time is what it was. Reaching out I shifted a piece around, not really caring about where it ended up. Sederis let out an annoyed little sigh, shifting the Justicar again before flicking a finger. A tiny burst of biotic energy sent my Matriarch tumbling onto her side, the little model's small face frowning disapprovingly at me.

"You going to tell me the information about what those bitches are up to on Thessia or not?"

The leader of the Eclipse gave me yet another disapproving look, though this one was a tad less annoyed. "The details are largely irrelevant. Aethyta is going to be relieved of her position when the new session is called, and is all but under house arrest in her familial home. She should never have answered the summons."

I scowled, grabbing my beer. I hadn't fucking known she was being kept locked up like that. Certainly changed shit. "But _why?_ Athame's fucking azure, what could they hope to accomplish here?"

"If I fucking knew I'd tell you gears." Sederis let me take a few sips before reaching across the table and grabbing the bottle for herself, "She and T'Soni were an item back in the day, but this shit is too personal to be an old lover's fight. And I don't know what the shit T'Ravt is up to. She and your boss used to be pretty tight allies politically."

Which made sense. The T'Ravt had long held the opinion that we weakened ourselves as a species by even bothering to pretend that the shorter-lived races were worth our time. As far as they were concerned only Asari and Krogran counted as real people. They didn't control anything like a majority of the government, but they had plenty of fucking allies with their own reasons to push the isolationist agenda.

Aethyta's message about turning the Republics military into something worth truly fearing had resonated well with that crowd, since a strong fleet would be fucking required for that kind of thing.

"So we're stuck treading water for another fucking month."

There was a slight shrug as she took a drink of my beer. "She was always too fucking hands-on. Don't know what she was thinking, not appointing a staff, trying to micromanage everything."

I grimaced, glancing at the scattered game pieces.

"Gears." Sederis dragged the word out slightly, bemusedly. "What do you know?"

One of my fingers tapped repeatedly on the table before I made up my mind. It was stupidly fucking risky, but what choice did I have? Everything I knew said that the old fish was out of the picture. Possibly fucking permanently if she was being kept trapped in her own mansion. And someone was probably reading her mail, likely even editing the message she did get out.

"Remember those assholes that we caught, right after the ape left? Had orders to burn down his place?"

"The ones sent by your mysterious Matriarch?" It was her turn to shrug. "What about them?"

Athame watch over me. "They were Nightwind."

It took a lot to surprise Jona Sederis, but those words did it. Her chair slammed into the wall five meters behind her as biotic light rolled off her body in a wave, hands slamming massive dents into the table as her fists struck it. "They were... fucking WHAT? There was a NIGHTWIND team on _my_ fucking planet!?"

"Was." I flinched, trying to keep my composure against a wave of memories telling me to fucking _run_. "All dead, remember?"

For a long moment, I thought she didn't. That insane glint came back into her eyes, her breathing growing ragged as more power gathered, and then the eye of the storm returned. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, exhaling heavily as she fought to regain control of her own mind.

I kept my fucking mouth shut, and hoped.

"Gears. You're telling me that someone in the Republics government is so threatened by the little human with Floating Mind that they'd send a Nightwind team to assassinate him and you."

Swallowing heavily, I risked jerking my chin in a nod.

She stared at my stoically for a long few moments, and when she spoke again her voice was murderously calm. "The only people with that kind of clout are the Thirty. Aethyta might not have images of those reclusive creatures, but that's what the Shadow Broker is for. I'm going to pay him for them, and then you're going to tell me which one is your Matriarch. And then you're going to tell me what he knows that's so fucking dangerous."

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 2: The Guests** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more time skip later, and Rane has returned to Cieran and the others on Omega. The Talon base is their new 'home' on station, and while not perfect, at least it seems to be safe. And everyone still seems to be intact, even if there were a few moments of excitement. The next chapter will bring Jarick back into the picture, and explore what happened to the True Sons while Rane was away.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	33. Act 3: The Guests

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Guests**

Somethings didn't change, even when I was finally able to sleep with my lover again. In both meanings of the phrase.

I padded out of the room perhaps five hours later, leaving Rane to rest. This particular set memories turned nightmares had been Korlus, always my favorite of topics when I was awake, much less when I was asleep.

The lights were still off when I entered the living room, which let me perfectly see when a pair of white pinpricks appeared around waist level.

I instinctively froze at the sight, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as my primitive subconscious screamed to get the fuck away from the predator staring me down in the darkness. A tight exhale was followed by another as I forced myself to relax. "Voya. Go back to sleep, I'm going to go get some work done."

There was a long exhale as the gleaming eyes shifted, a blanket rustling before her omni-tool flared to life. The orange glow illuminated her sitting cross legged, shaking out her spotted mane of hair while her free hand covered a yawn.

"Seriously, keep sleeping. All I'm going to do is see if there's any armor that needs to be repaired." Which there probably would be. There almost always was, even if they weren't involved in a massive campaign right now, Omega was still Omega. Talons were regularly brought in a bit battered or wounded, and that was just their actual bodies.

Upper-tier gangsters or not, they were still gangsters. The kind of regular maintenance and care required to keep modern armor and weaponry running was depressingly lacking, and the technicians and engineers were constantly overworked. It was more primitive than what I was used to, they just didn't have the kind of tools and spare parts I would have liked, but it was still something I could help with.

Voya dropped both of her arms into her lap before narrowing her eyes, the wide orbs reflecting the light to lend her already dangerous lines a further edge.

"What, you want to come with?"

A hand rose, pointing imperiously back at the hallway I had just left.

"You know as well as I do that I'm not getting more sleep."

She let out a chuffing sound, then swung her hand around to point at a piece of furniture, following it up with a few signed words.

"Voya, I don't know if smoking will... well fine, if you're going to be annoyed about it."

Changing course, I shuffled towards the couch where I'd slept up until last night rather than the front door. The light shifted as she used it as a makeshift flashlight, letting me open a small nightstand on the couch's left, pulling out my pipe and a small bag.

Two minutes later I was sitting on the floor next to Voya, the Quarian shifting onto one side while her long fingers slowly tapped out words for me to read.

_You should have smoked those Batarian leaves before you slept._

I exhaled a stream of vanilla scented smoke. "Hindsight is perfect. And you kicked us out of the living room anyway."

_Only because I didn't want to watch you and Rane have sex on the couch._

"We aren't exhibitionists."

 _For which I thank my ancestors._ She yawned again, letting me see her ivory teeth and dainty canines. _It is good to have her back all the same._

"Yeah... Athame, I really missed her."

_Really? I had no idea. You only never shut up about how long it had been and when she was supposed to come back._

I scowled at her. "I wasn't that bad."

_Yes you were._

"Was not."

_Cieran, you were. Now shut up or I'll hit you._

My scowl deepened. "Always violence with you."

She scoffed silently, her eyes rolling. _You aren't any better. Probably why we get along. Well, that and..._

"Yeah. And." I glanced away, taking several draws from my pipe before letting the smoke escape my lips and nose. "And. You know I didn't used to be that upset about what happened to me. But the more time that goes past, the more I... I don't know, dwell on it I guess. Think about it."

_Get enraged by it?_

"Enraged is a bit strong." Another draw bought me time to find my words, mindful as ever to skirt the truth... but also being more open about my worries than I would have been with almost anyone else. "I think dwelling on it is the right prhase. Why did she pick me? Did it... change who I am? How I think? Did I lose anything?"

Or worse, did I _gain_ anything? As far as I knew implanting suggestions or commands via Asari melds wasn't believed to be possible... but if it was, would the Asari really go around advertising it?

 _I... don't know if I can really talk about that._ Voya typed slowly, rolling onto her back to avoid looking at me as she did so. _I was only violated in body. They weren't interested in psychological games, nor did any Asari elect to..._ her chest heaved before fingers forced themselves back into motion. _...take a turn. But... by the ancestors, your_ _soul_ _was mutilated._

I winced at that, glancing down as I felt my heart sink. I hadn't been lying about dwelling on what the Matriarch had done to me, whatever that had been beyond bringing me here. Rane's observation about my skills had made me do a lot of thinking over the last few months.

I hadn't liked my conclusions.

And by hadn't liked, I meant I had almost had several panic attacks before I started repressing the thought processes on reflex.

Case point one, I'd picked up skills far too quickly for it to be my natural ability to learn things. Sure, in my old life I'd prided myself on that as something special about me, but my lowborn lover had been entirely correct. Someone with how much experience I'd had should _not_ have been able to build power armor like I had. Or even become as competant as I currently was when it came to being an armor smith.

Case point two... I'd learned both dialects of the Batarian language before my first year was out. Admittedly there wasn't that much of a difference between them, and I knew that people could pick up languages fast with total immersion (which Nynsi had more or less insisted on, to the point of turning her translator off for nearly two months). All in all, it might have been excusable excepting the fact that I'd also picked up on Batarian posture and nonverbal communication to the point where... fuck, where I barely seemed human.

Jarick had more or less been the proof. When he spoke, he moved, his body accentuating what he was saying in a fashion I could instantly recognize as human. He slouched, he waved his arms, he did all of the things I could once remember doing.

Excepting those first few months when I'd lived next to Trena... I didn't.

I held myself like a Batarian, my back straight and rigid at all times. Unless we were in a fight, I turned my torso rather than my neck when I need to shift where I was looking. My arms stayed level at my sides or loosely crossed in the Highborn fashion unless I needed to shift them to reinforce the words I was using. Shit, I carefully measured my _blinking_ based on whether I was treating my eyes as being equivalent to a Batarians' upper or lower set during a conversation.

Even that wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that I'd spent as much if not _more_ time around Asari than I had with Batarians. But aside from being far more comfortable talking about sex than I might have once been, and swearing by Athame in a language where that goddess was involved in most of the oaths... I didn't particularly consider myself very Asari-like.

I certainly hadn't learned to hold myself and move like one beyond their shrugging motion, which was more or less the same as the Batarian one anyway. And I'd been best friends with Trena long before Nynsi and I had gotten extremely serious. If I was some kind of culturally adaptive savant, I'd think that I'd be more Asari-ish than Batarian.

So... why wasn't I? Was I somehow naturally wired that way... or had the Matriarch done something to me?

A gloved finger tapped my chin, breaking me from my worries. Voya and rolled back onto her side, and the little clock in the corner of the floating panel above her arm told me I'd been lost in thought for nearly five minutes.

_Cieran, I've told you to stop that._

"I'll stop when you do."

_I don't... what's Rane's phrase, I don't get lost behind my eyes. I hit things and kill people._

"You hit things." I corrected quietly. "You don't really kill people. Well, not since your hunt."

 _Only because you told me not to._ She let out a slow exhale. _I... Keelah. Look at us. What are we supposed to say to one another?_

"That's the tenth or so time you've asked me that... and I still don't know the answer. You sure you don't want to try talking with my friend when we get to Illium? She could help you better than she can help me."

Voya scowled. _No one is getting into my head. Your friend or not. And you're still assuming I'm going to stick around after your doctor fixes my throat._

"Aren't you?"

_I... you... bosh'tet. Maybe._

"You'd miss me."

_I'd miss being able to punch your weird face. Now shut up and go back to your Batarian lover, I want to sleep._

I nodded slightly. We hadn't actually resolved anything, not that we had either of the ten times we'd had similar conversations while Rane was gone. Usually inspired by either she or I having nightmares and waking the other given the fact that we slept just a meter and a half apart.

I won't lie and say we didn't end up on the same couch more than once. Nothing happened, obviously, but... sometimes companionship was important.

Extinguishing my pipe, I tossed it onto her nightstand before rising, my feet quietly carrying me back to bed without another word. Rane slept through my return as easily as she'd slept through my departure, strong arms unconsciously pulling me against her bare skin as I pulled the blankets over us.

Four hours later my alarm had gone off, signaling the end of the shift, and Jarick's return to our little place. Another hour let us rotate through showering and generally getting things cleaned up, and then we had some things to do. Voya and Rane went to spend two or so hours working on our mechs, while I helped the former slave move a cart stuffed to the brim with food from the kitchens.

He was ecstatic to see Rane again, which had my lover rather off balance throughout the entire meal, especially as he continued to push food in front of her.

"Jarick," Rane spoke with forced patience, "The food is as good as ever, but I was quite full after the third plate."

The kid ignored her protests, placing the fifth plate of food in front of her as he took away the prior. He was still shaving his head, though he wouldn't tell us why he didn't like having hair. At least his eyebrows had grown back in, which made him look less weird. "Miss Rane'li's people need more calories than most, she needs to keep her strength up."

"Reyja'krem." I didn't miss the pleading tone in her low voice, her head dipping the left in a desperate request. "Please tell him to stop."

"I don't know." Leaning back in my own chair, I joined Voya in being entirely amused by the spectacle in front of us. "You do seem to have lost some muscle."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. " _Cieran._ "

For his part, Jarick seemed entirely pleased with my response. "Miss Rane'li should do as he says."

"And if I do not?"

The kid pulled off a very good snooty little sniff as he turned away, "Then she will have to eat the burnt things that the Talons' call mystery food."

The lowborn grimaced, then gave a long suffering sigh and picked up her fork and knife once again.

 _Are the cooks still treating you well?_ Voya had setup her tablet as she usually did at meal times, sipping her water with one hand while the other flicked across the gleaming keyboard. _I've heard that the quality of the regular meals has improved._

"They've been most kind since I started helping them. Apparently they take less verbal abuse now than they used to." His left shoulder moved in an awkward little Asari shrug. "Some of them treat me... oddly though."

I rolled my eyes. "You mean they act like you're in charge."

Pale skin flushed red. "Exactly so sir."

"Increment."

"Two-hundred and seventy times this week sir."

"Increment it again and don't tell me how many please."

"As you say sir."

Athame's fucking ass. Letting out a long exhale, I shifted my gaze over to Voya. "How'd working on Glitch go?"

_Acceptably. We were able to restore him to our last backup of its intelligence matrix. Still some issues, but it didn't attempt to kill anyone this time._

"Always a good thing." I mused. "Though with Glitch who knows how long that'll last."

 _Agreed. We're keeping it shut down to be safe._ Her suited shoulders rose and fell in a tiny bit of motion. _Still, it's one thing largely complete._

"It is, which lets us move on to sifting through the True Sons data that Tris lifted when the hanger complex fell."

Rane let out a quiet noise, swallowing a piece of bread before she spoke. "How did the team handle losing Wilhelm?"

"He was an ass. They miss his medical skills but I don't think any of them are particularly broken up." I shrugged a little. "What I'm more concerned about is all the shit we have to read."

Jarick hesitantly held up a hand. "Does that include me sir?"

All three of us turned to regard him in mild confusion, my voice laced with it as I spoke. "You _want_ to be bored out of your mind reading what those things were up to?"

"It's just... I don't feel like I do enough sir. All I do is make food and clean."

 _Which is quite enough._ Voya's fingers expressed her anger with how hard they hit the keys. _We aren't going to make you do anything that you don't want to do._

"But I _want_ to help more Miss Voya." He bowed his head a little bit. "I know I can't help you fight, but I can read things and look through files. Miss Illyan would have helped."

_Cieran would have had to force her. And she would have complained every minute of it._

I snorted, "Yeah. If you really want to help I won't stop you kid, but you can stop whenever you get bored. And feel free to skip anything that's too gruesome."

"Thank you sir. What will I be looking for?"

"Anything pertaining to Illium, the Hegemony, or the Shaaryak family." He covered a yawn politely, making me smile bemusedly. "But get some sleep first, I know you spent the entirety of the last shift in the kitchens. We'll pick out some sections for you to look at tomorrow."

"I will sleep as soon as Miss Rane'li finishes her food sir."

The lowborn, who'd been slowly down significantly, groaned. "Cieran. Please, my Reyja'krem."

Sighing, I felt my lips tug into a wider grin. "All right, that's enough. Jarick, go sleep. Rane, there's a couch over there, go lay down. Voya..."

 _Don't tell me._ She slumped a little. _You and I get to start reading._

"Yup."

Thirty minutes later found the three of us more or less draped on the couches, all staring at tablets. Voya naturally had one to herself, her feet up on an armrest, one foot moving in time to the quiet music emanating from her slim computer. For our part, I was slouched backwards, flicking my way through several search algorithms while I picked out individual files to read. My lover was on her side, head in my lap as she lazily scrolled through her own, upper eyes closing whenever I let a hand move down to rub her side or stomach.

Comfort and friends aside, it wasn't a terribly exciting several hours. Email archives were separated to be searched by bots rather than manually wading through the shit to try and find things, financial records were likewise kicked into their own folder structure to be analyzed later, mostly leaving us to read memos or official decrees. Even cutting things down to just the time frame we were looking at left hundreds of the fucking things, all possibly relevant to what we were looking for.

"Found something interesting." I muttered five hours in, stretching my neck a bit before refocusing my eyes. "Memo celebrating that they hired Krom."

Rane perked up a little, rolling onto her back so she could look at me. "That would have been directly before they attempted to assassinate Sederis, yes?"

"Yeah. Voya, think you can pull any message chains from this time-frame?"

The Quarian nodded when I gave her the dates, starting up a new search before signing that it would be an hour or so for it to get through everything.

"Thanks." Shifting down a page, I snorted. "Have to love it when they send out a warning about the same guy they just hired."

"Don't anger him?"

"Don't speak with him." Rane snorted quietly at my words. "I know, right? Huh. He apparently worked out that Sederis had a mind healer before they even talked with that traitor in the Eclipse. Did it just from looking at little things in how the Eclipse was conducting business."

A new message box popped up in the corner of my screen, Voya's words popping up as she typed them on hers. _He's a psychopathic bosh'tet, not a stupid one._

"Apparently. And apparently the assassination plan was his, and was just secondary to him going after the doctor and her family." My lips twisted as I kept reading. "This guy is seriously fucked up. He got into a debate with a True Son lieutenant over whether or not he should behead the mind healer and mail Sederis her skull, or flay her and leave her skin on her door for the Eclipse to find. Or both."

_That's... disgusting. I don't have problems killing people who deserve it painfully, but that's...Keelah._

Rane's skin lightened a bit as she groaned. "And he nearly had you and Voya when they attacked the district. Pillar of Heart, if he had gotten inside..."

"I don't think he has one." I grimaced at the memory of just how close we'd come to being killed, or captured. "Oh, and his penchant for killing his own employers apparently goes back to Illium. Either that or the Eclipse assassinated a few high-ranking True Sons before they moved in against the slums. Three of them went missing right before the battle, got a all-hands doc here asking for information on them."

_Why didn't we kill him when he attacked the store again?_

"Because you were puking your guts out, and I was trying to figure out how many of you there were."

_Right. I don't suppose it says why they hired him in the first place? Ancestors, why would anyone hire him?_

"He gets results apparently." Reaching up, I brushed a few strands of hair that had escaped my pony-tail back behind my ears, "So long as you don't mind the gore and collateral damage he leaves in his wake. He's gotten five planetary governors, three pirate lords, and a few dozen smaller targets over his career. Rather impressive if you overlook the methods he used to actually kill them."

"Does it say anything about the hotel?" Rane brought us back to the main question, "It sounds even more like his style now."

Flicking through the files I had, I watched the text scroll before shaking my head. "Nothing in these. Yours?"

"All detailing how they got people onto Illium from Omega, both before and after Chacksin ul Shaaryak's death. Captain Vasir would probably like the list of smugglers and aliases used, but nothing we truly care about my Reya'krem."

Grunting, I flicked my eyes over to Voya. "You?"

 _Plenty of information on how they paid him, and their finances in general._ The Quarian gave a little shrug. _Nothing referring to a hotel._

I grimaced. "Back to the grind then."

_Or we could do something else._

"Bored?"

_My dream when I left Xentha was to sit in a gang's base, hiding from the Hegemony, while reading another gang's financial records._

"Someone's testy today. Didn't get enough sleep?"

_No. I did not. The rooms here are not soundproofed like the ones at Ironhold._

My skin flushed a little bit. Both in embarrassment... and the rather pleasing memories of just what I'd done to Rane before we'd tried to sleep. "Oh. Sorry"

_I very much did not need to know how much Rane enjoyed whatever it was you were doing to her._

"We'll... work on that."

"Work on what?" Rane's upper eyes narrowed a little. "Reyja'krem?"

"Apparently the walls they installed aren't soundproofed."

It didn't take her long to get it, copper flecked skin turning maroon in about three breaths as she groaned. "Pillars bury me."

Patting her head, I sighed and nodded at Voya. "What do you want to do then? Work on the mechs? Wander around look for other things to do?"

 _You're supposed to be intelligent._ The Quarian's gleaming eyes rolled. _What did I just tell you that I didn't get enough of? Especially given the fact that you woke me up in the middle of the night._

"Fine, we'll leave you here so you can nap." Flicking my tablet off, and glad that Rane didn't see the last sentence, I glanced down at my lover. "Want to finish the tour?"

"That sounds more than acceptable, my Reyja'krem."

Setting aside our tablets, the pair of us left Voya to curl up beneath her blanket, not missing the way she still reveled in burying her face into a pillow. It was good to see that she could still take enjoyment in something as simple as not having to have her mask on in our room, even with all of the shit that had happened in her life. Though it did remind me that I seriously hoped that she never met any of the Flotilla Quarians from the games. I couldn't even begin to imagine how someone like Tali would react to her openly flaunting the fact that she didn't have to be locked in her suit at all times.

Goddess. And she'd be able to speak by then. That would be a literal fight to death inside of five minutes.

Once we'd passed through the airlock and made sure it was locked, Rane took my proffered elbow, her hand resting on my forearm as the pair of us began meandering throughout the base, speaking quietly as we did so.

"You never did give me the details about what Red knows." She murmured as I pointed out where the main mess hall was, its attendant kitchens the most common place to find Jarick if he wasn't in our rooms.

"Not much." I shrugged a little, keeping my voice quiet while I took my own enjoyment just from being able to stand next to her for the first time in months. "She knows me name and title, but we told her that we're supporting Tris because I owe her for favors she did for me on Illium."

"And she believed it?"

"Ayle survived a brush of her own with the SIU about a month back, lent credence to the idea that they're after me just because of my title. Seems to have stopped her from asking too many more questions."

Rane grimaced slightly, "What happened?"

I shrugged again, turning to head towards the main hall. "Usual SIU terror tactics. Rigged up the place she was staying with mines and traps, she lost two of the freelancers she brought in. She's moved into T'Ravt's headquarters for the same reason we're here."

"Have you spoken with her?"

"Once, not for long. We're going to be meeting at Afterlife in... a week I think. T'Ravt is holding some kind of strategy meeting that she invited me to." My lips twisted a little. "Athame knows why, I already turned her offer for more work down."

"Was that wise, my Reyja'krem? We don't exactly have an income right now, beyond our salaries. And those..."

"...probably won't be lasting much longer. I know, but I didn't think Red would appreciate us moving a Warlord's equipment though her place. Which was pretty much the excuse I used to turn her down."

"A fair point." She admitted before quieting as we passed several Talons moving the other way. They universally stared at us, in particular the way her arm was tucked around mine and how she was pressed closely against my side. None of the three Turians actually said anything, but their mandibles were quivering against their jaws in amusement as they moved past.

Rane let out a slow exhale, but when she spoke again it wasn't to comment on their stares. "What about the fighting between T'Ravt and the Blood Pack?"

I blinked a few times before shrugging. If she ignored them then I didn't have any problems doing the same, especially as they hadn't said anything. "Still progressing. The bulk of the fighting's being done by the troops she's been bringing in, but the mercs' downtime is wrapping up. A few units are already involved, including the Blades."

"How long do you believe the campaign will take?"

"Not sure." Exhaling, I turned us to the right as we made it to the main hall, maybe thirty or forty Talons coming and going from other side hallways. Stepping off to the side and out of the way, we settled onto a bench before I resumed my thought process. "There's only a hundred or so Krogan in the target area, but they're fucking Krogan. And I doubt even the Pillar of Knowledge would know how many Vorcha they've got stuffed in there."

"There are that many?"

"Tris thinks that at least five hundred of the things have died so far, and Garm is still throwing them into the fighting." I let out a slow exhale. "Similar tactics as the True Sons, but Vorcha are more of a problem than former slaves or drugged up kids. The stupid things regenerate from almost anything. And can actually aim."

"But they are making progress?"

"Not quickly, but yes." My head craned back until it hit the wall, yet another long breath. "Worst case projections have the rest of Gozu being under T'Ravt's control in three months. After that.. she probably plans to go after the rest of the Blood Pack here, but I don't really care."

Rane let out a thoughtful humming sound before carefully leaning closer to me, her head bowing left to rest on my shoulder. "Three more months. I believe I can do that, my Reyja'krem."

"Was being back on Illium that pleasant?"

"It felt like... taking a shower after the longest day of my life." A sound that was almost lustful made my lips twitch. "I know that world isn't the most pleasant, but compared to Omega it was... Pillars. Three months. Three months."

Some of my mirth faded as I belatedly realized just how serious she was being. "You can go back Rane, even take Jarick with. Voya and I can survive on our own."

"Cieran." I could practically feel the rumbling growl in my chest. "If you try to send me away again I will temporarily forget that you are a Reyja'krem and hurt you as badly as I can."

I swallowed heavily. "Shutting up."

My lover sucked in a long breath, and I could practically feel the reflexive apology begin before she forced her mouth shut. For my part I slid my right arm back around her waist, holding her closer against me.

"Progress."

She took a deep breath but nodded slightly.

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Trisren, it's Trena._

_User 2: Trena? Haven't heard from you in a while. News from Thessia?  
_

_User 1: Sort of. I need you to give a message to the ape for me, his team is still on the no-call list. Orders._

_User 2: All right... what's the message?_

_User 1: The person who calls me Gears is on her way to Omega with information for him. Tell him... to be as truthful with her as he is with everyone but me._

_User 2: Trena..?_

_User 1: Tris, this line isn't fully secure. I can't say more fucking shit than that. Swear by Athame that you'll tell him that exact message._

_User 2: Fine._

_User 1: Dammit Tris, fucking swear it._

_User 2: All right, all right. I swear that I'll tell him before the shift is out. Is Ghai not putting out anymore or something?_

_User 1: No, it's... fuck. It's fucking complicated to the point where I'm going to get black-out drunk and hopefully wake up with Ghai and Illyan both naked on either side of me._

_User 2: How is that different from normal?_

_User 1: It's different. I wish it fucking wasn't but it is. Shit. Tell him._

_User 2: I swore that I would... you sure you can't tell me anything?_

_User 1: Tell the ape it's up to him if he wants to tell you. He probably fucking will, but I can't over this._

_User 2: All right. I'll head to where he's holed up after Dorvahn gets back._

_User 1: Thanks Tris._

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 3: The Lovers** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Cieran and Voya are revealed to have grown closer together as companions over the past few months, but both remain rather... damaged and not really able to help the other heal. In comparison, Jarick is definitely doing better, they find some information about Krom and the True Sons, and Rane reminds Cieran that she's growing beyond what the Hegemony believes a lowborn should be.
> 
> The next chapter will remain mostly focused on the four companions and their relationships with each other, with the next chapter truly beginning the story arc for this act.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	34. Act 3: The Lovers

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Lovers**

"You're still worried about what Trisren said, my Reyja'krem." Rane's voice was quiet as she stroked my hair, my head resting on her bare shoulder as we held one another beneath our thin blankets.

"It's rather hard not to be." I murmured back, listening to the inhuman heartbeat as it thrummed beneath her thick skin. "Sederis is on her way to talk with me about something, but I have no idea what that something is. And I have no idea what Scales is trying to tell me with the rest of it."

There was a long breath that she let out through her teeth. "As honest as you are with everyone excepting her."

"Again, no fucking idea." My own exhalation was slow and annoyed. "You, Shaaryak, Scales, Ghai, Illyan, Erana... Captain Vasir, most of the mansion's staff, Aethyta. Everyone knows how I ended up with my brain burned and my memories blacked out."

"Nothing from when it was merely you and Trena?"

"Rane, the only thing we did in those few months was work, sleep, and go to bars. She would try and set me up with someone, I'd have to explain my medical condition for four or five Asari, and then she'd vanish with whoever she'd picked for the night leaving me to pay her tab."

She let out a quiet little chuckle that reverberated in her chest. "Somehow that does not surprise me, Reyja'krem."

My lips curled in a little smile at the memories of simpler times, a slow groan escaping my mouth as she shifted the hand not playing with my hair to my back, strong fingers slowly digging into the tense muscles. "Ugh."

"Painful or pleasant?"

"Both." Her other hand left the long strands of still stupidly blue hair, more pressure making me go limp as I sprawled half on top of her. Burying my face in her neck and shoulder, I groaned again, trying to let the massage work away the crap going through my head. "Dammit. Tris said she stressed the truthful thing. It has to mean something."

"Is continuing to stare at it going to bring you understanding, my Reyja'krem?" When I didn't reply, she nodded slightly. "I did not believe so. I think that he should be more concerned with what Sederis must tell him that is so important that the leader of the Eclipse would personally come to Omega to do so."

I closed my eyes. "It can't be anything good. I mean, Reyja'krem or not, what the fuck am I to someone like Sederis? She's probably the second most powerful person in the fucking Terminus after Aria."

"I... will admit to being worried, given her persona." Fingers dug a little too harshly into my back, making me wince. "I'm sorry, it's just... she is unstable Cieran. I don't like the idea of you meeting with her alone."

"No choice." I reminded her quietly. There was no way that I was going to tell Rane, or anyone else, that Sederis was working on her little instability problem with the aid of medications and mind healers. For one, whoever I'd told would end up dead. Second, I'd end up dead. And I didn't think Trena being fond of me and Sederis maybe or maybe not owing me a minor favor for the crap on Illium would help.

"I'm aware that I have no choice. You're still my Reyja'krem, and I am yours. It's my responsibility to protect you."

Blinking my eyes open, I shifted myself up onto one arm to stare at her. "Rane, you've got that rather backwards."

She let out a quiet sniff before shifting her hands to my shoulders and pulling me back to where I'd been, not speaking until I'd sighed and returned my head to its place. "I seem to recall you declaring yourself to be _my_ Reyja'krem, Cieran Kean. You all but claimed me as a member of your cadre, though I know that you would never ask me to officially declare my fealty."

I winced a little. Technically Reyja'krem and Harath'krem were allowed to claim followers, though how many and of which caste was a matter of debate. And the whether or not exiles could be claimed only made it more complicated. As far as I'd ever heard from Shaaryak, quite a few Councils had spent months and years in debate and never officially resolved any kind of pattern or tradition.

The loose rules that Harath'krem could take as many as their Tarath'shan allowed, but usually didn't touch exiles. Reyja'krem were the opposite, they were... _encouraged_ to only claim exiles as members of their cadre, and to not take many of them either. I was pretty sure that a few of Ayle's 'freelancers' were actually fellow Batarians whom she'd convinced or conned into swearing oaths of allegiance.

Regardless, it wasn't something I'd personally ever had any desire to do. By Hegemony law, members of a cadre were basically considered to be members of a very tiny house, with the warrior as their lord. Including all of the permissions that would come with that kind of authority.

"I don't want followers Rane."

"I know." My lover stroked my hair slowly, the motions as oddly relaxing as ever. "And I remember our discussions about partnerships compared to subordination. It's just... part of me, the part that still believes that I live in the Hegemony as a lowborn technician, _does_ want you to ask me that. To be made to swear that I would be your follower until my last breath. That I would do whatever you asked of me."

I winced again. "Rane..."

"I know how you feel, which is why I've never offered to do such a thing." The assurance did make me breath a little easier. "And I've come to enjoy... moments like this. I don't... think I could hold you like this if I did. I wouldn't like that."

My lips twitched a little. That sounded much better.

Rane let out a long sigh. "Now you are grinning again, and likely far too pleased with yourself."

"More pleased with you." I corrected.

Her skin seemed to heat itself further, the copper flecked flesh shifting to something closer to maroon across her cheeks and neck. "Please don't bother denying being a little smug, we both know my Reyja'krem is."

"Perhaps a little." Shifting my head around a bit, I pressed my lips against her neck. "Anything else you wanted to tell me while you have me captive like this?"

If anything her blush grew worse. "I'm hardly holding you captive."

"You start massaging my back again and you will be."

"Is that what my Reyja'krem desires? To be held prisoner by his lover?"

"He assuredly wouldn't say no."

There was a quiet chuckle, but her hands slid down from my shoulders to start pressing and rubbing in slow, soothing motions. Groaning again in pleasure, I let my body go slack and simply enjoy what she was doing. After perhaps ten minutes her arms started to cramp from the awkward angle, but rather than get up she simply had me shift off of her before moving to sit demurely besides me.

The light touch of her fingers traced areas on my left side. "Your scars are fading."

I grunted quietly. The burned patch stretched from the bottom of my ribs went down to nearly my leg, and it had never been the prettiest to look at. Especially with the extra incisions where the doctors had had to go in to repair where the shrapnel from my own tech launcher had hit me. "That's something I guess."

"Still no desire to have surgery to clean it up?"

"No." I snorted. "Why would I? You don't mind it, or the ones Chacksin gave me. You only care about my hair."

"True enough." She chuckled quietly, a hand shifting upwards to playfully tug on the strands dangling back from my skull. "Are you going to continue to allow it to grow?"

"This is probably as long as it'll get. Too much longer and it'll be even more of a pain to fit it inside my armor. It's already a pain in the ass to keep clean."

Rane let out a humming noise, her other hand still rubbing the skin on alongside of my spine while the other played with my hair. "Speaking of clean, how long until it is no longer blue?"

"Two weeks." Which meant I was going to be fucking stuck with _blue_ hair when I met with T'Ravt and then Sederis. Fucking awesome. "I don't suppose you've reconsidered assisting me in getting back at Voya?"

"Her fur is already ridiculously spotted, Reyja'krem. I do believe that your revenge was adequate." The bed shifted as she did, then warm lips were pressed against my back before she sighed. "Though speaking of Voya, I am supposed to assist her in working on Glitch and Fine once again."

My face pressed into a pillow as I groaned, words half muffled. "That means getting up. And getting dressed."

"Please do not act like Trena. I had to deal with her quite enough over the past few weeks."

Groaning, I swallowed another quip and instead gave a grudging nod before starting to push myself up. Getting dressed didn't take all that long, even if I may or may not have delayed from time to time to better enjoy watching Rane pull pieces of clothing on. For her part she merely flushed a little, admonishing me that there would be plenty of time for me to take them off again later.

Eventually we were both clad in our usual black casual wear, belts with pistols our concession that not being armed was a fucking stupid idea. Since I'd never quite been happy with my old Acolyte, I'd traded it to a Talon who'd managed to loot an Executioner off of a dead Krogan. Or he'd stolen it. I didn't really care, what mattered was that that thing fired stupidly massive shards and worked much better as a compliment to my Asari sub-machine gun.

It still needed a lot of work. The coolant system was absolute crap, and there was absolutely none of the usual circuitry to tie it into my helmet's HUD. It was a project, but it just so happened that I _liked_ projects.

I glanced around after we'd left the room and entered the living area, finding only Jarick thumbing through information on a tablet. "Hey kid. Where's Voya?"

"I believe she went to the armor to work on the mechs sir."

"Pillars." Rane groaned, already turning towards the door. "How long ago did she live?"

"Perhaps an hour or so?" He shrugged a little, glancing up. "I'm sorry Miss Rane, she said not to disturb you."

"Not your fault." From the way she gave me an annoyed little tilt of her head, it was clear who she was blaming. Which was... probably fair, she had tried to get up about two hours ago. I'd been the one to pull her back to bed for more pleasurable activities. "I should go before she gets too annoyed. Reyja'krem, could...?"

"I'll bring you both tea, shouldn't be that far behind."

"Thank you." Stepping back, she gave me a soft kiss, and then was in the airlock and waiting for it to cycle.

Smiling to myself, I headed over to the kitchen, digging around for what I'd need to take over to the small brewing stand. For his part, Jarick continued to read, sipping from his own glass as he slowly scrolled through what looked like a wall of text.

"That the True Sons information?"

"Yes sir. Miss Voya gave me the results of one of her search bots." His pale lips turned downwards as he shook his head. "It's rather... unpleasant reading."

"Warned you." My voice lowered slightly. "You don't have to keep reading it kid."

"I sill want to help sir. And... I think I found something for you." Blue eyes narrowed at his screen as I went still, his words coming out as he read directly from the material. "... _the Eclipse are moving in. Krom has called off his operation to go after Sederis's mind healer, he is being tasked with getting the senior staff to the shuttles."_

"Time stamp?" I demanded, voice a bit sharper than I intended.

"Directly before the raid began sir, corresponding to the time you gave that the other attack occurred." He seemed to swallow. "There's... more, panicked message recordings that he shifted their escape route to lead to Sederis rather than away. To cover his own escape. He... sent messages as well, taunting Sederis and drawing her to where he wanted her."

"To kill the people he didn't want ratting on his team kills." I muttered. "And buying time to get his ass out of there. Anything on the Blue Suns searches?"

He shook his head. "No sir. Nothing beyond what territory they'd taken during the war, and how glad they were to see their former patrons being... removed."

Turning away from him, I exhaled heavily and tried not to seethe as suspicion was confirmed. The hotel had been Krom's style, and the targeting of the Asari staff was pure True Son dogma. But this confirmed that he hadn't been there. And that the Ture Sons had been too fucking busy being killed by Sederis to be worried about launching a long-distance, highly sophisticated raid turned massacre.

I mean... I'd more or less already assumed that the True Sons hadn't been the one to do it. But even as much as I hated the Hegemony I hadn't quite wanted to believe that they'd killed their own fucking people just to make Nysni and I look bad. Or whatever the fuck their plan had been.

At least I could confirm the suspicion for Aethyta and Trena, let them know that their investigations into the Hegemony were definitely not a waste of time. And let Tris know that we, hopefully, wouldn't have to gallivanting off to Theodosius to try and interrogate Vosque.

"Good work kid."

"Sir... I'm not all that much younger than you."

I grimaced slightly, slowly returning to my task of grabbing tea packets and heavy travel mugs. "No, you aren't. But... fuck. Jarick, let's be honest with each other here. You were a slave. It was a shit life even if you didn't realize it, but you make it sound like it was a fairly comfortable, boring life. That sound right?"

There was a momentary pause before he spoke, "Until my first mistress died... I would say that is accurate sir."

"My life started... two years ago when I woke up with no memory of who I was and a medical condition after being mind-raped. Since then I've basically been drowning in rapids, and I've had to kill a lot of fucking people. More than a few were..." I exhaled as a few painful memories tried to escape the locked boxes I kept them in. "...younger than you. I've even been clinically fucking dead. So yeah, to me, you're a kid."

He didn't say anything as I finished grabbing what I needed, and remained silent until I'd moved out of the kitchen, past him, and was messing around with the brewers to get both my and Voya's drinks started. I'd do Rane's after mine.

"I.. I would still like it if you called me Jarick sir."

A small breath, not quite a snort but amused all the same, escaped my nose. "All right Jarick. Sorry for being a bit of an ass there."

"It's understandable sir. My life was..." The kid's... Jarick's voice trailed for a moment. "...wasn't bad. I'm just..."

"Still having a hard time adjusting?"

"Christ yes. Sir. It's... my god, there isn't... anyone telling me what to _do._ There's just so much time where... I can do anything but I don't..."

I fought back a groan. I really wasn't the best person for him to talk to about this, but then again his other options were Voya, enough said, and Rane, who wouldn't understand and probably would just direct him to me. It probably said something that it had taken him this long to work up the nerve just to ask me to stop calling him kid. "You seem to be doing better these days."

"I.. thank you sir, I've been trying. It's just..."

"Difficult?"

"Yes sir."

"Athame's ass, enough with the sirs already."

"I'm sorry si..." I could hear him suck him a long breath. "Cie...ran."

"You can go with Kean if that's easier." Flicking a few buttons to get the brewer going, I glanced back in time to see him nodding slowly and taking another lungful of air.

"I'm sorry Kean. Kean. I think I can use that sir... I mean, Kean."

"Take your time, I won't get annoyed so long as you can tolerate me fucking up and calling you kid once and a while."

"I won't, and... thank you sir."

I shifted a little bit in discomfort at his stupidly grateful tones, wishing that I could make the stupid water boil faster. "Yeah. Well... you find anything else in those files?"

"Just more details on what kind of a man Anad Krom is." I didn't have to be looking at him to picture his pale features turning green. "It's... not pleasant to read."

"It wouldn't be." I muttered, trying to grasp for a topic that wouldn't be so upsetting to him. "Let's... shit. I really don't have much here. You going to the kitchens during shift three?"

"I was hoping to si.. I was hoping to."

My lips curled a little bit as the tea finally began to stream into the cups, "Every day."

"Sir?"

"You go to the kitchens and the mess hall every day during the third shift, as regular as Thessia's tides." Setting aside the now full drinks, I put Rane's where mine had been and set the machine for another cycle. "Either you really like having a routine, or there's someone working that time-slot that you rather like being around."

"I... I..." Full on smirking now, I glanced over my shoulder to see that the kid's face had turned bright red. "I wasn't..."

"Knew it. Voya owes me fifty credits."

"But... I mean, we aren't.. really seeing each other. I mean..." His head dropped as he groaned. "I wouldn't even know how to ask."

"Can't help you much kid. I'm not really an expert."

Jarick's head snapped back up as he blinked in confusion. "But you and Miss Rane... and Miss Illyan told me about you and that Shaaryak woman."

"They're both Batarian." I pointed out, leaning against the wall to my right as I shrugged slightly. "Batarians aren't quite as forward as Asari verbally but they're pretty clear about things if you can read their posture. And they're still pretty open about if and when they want to drag you to bed compared to most humans."

"Oh."

"So. Who is it?"

"It's... I mean..."

"Come on kid. Jarick. Or do I have to guess?" He looked aghast at the very idea, so I promptly began rattling off ideas. "Let's see. You didn't sleep with Illyan despite more than a few clear offers, so it's probably not an Asari."

"No, I mean, Miss Illyan was very-"

"Not an Asari then." Cutting him off, I let my head tilt back to show my contemplation. "Let's see. There's plenty of Turians around, and Batarians. Still a few humans... probably one of those three. I don't think you'd go for a Turian though. Or would you?"

His throat worked as he swallowed, shaking his head minutely. "Sir, do we really have to talk about-"

"Yup. So, either a Batarian or a fellow human. At the risk of losing my secondary bet, I'm going to assume you're sticking with your own species."

"You... and Miss Voya _bet_ on who I might be..."

I blinked at him. "Obviously. Voya and I bet on all kinds of crap."

"Well... yes, but I mean. Who I might be... not that we're, not that she..."

I blinked again. "You haven't asked her on a date or anything?"

His head dropped again. "No sir. I don't know how to even..."

"So you just got there and work next to her, not saying anything." There was a hesitant nod. "That's... fuck. Just see if she wants to get dinner. Worse she can do is say no and then you can get over it and find someone else."

"You make it sound so easy."

"I lived with Asari." I pointed out. "When you watch your best friend get turned down a dozen times in one evening you start to get over things like worrying about rejection."

"But..." He sucked in a slow breath. "I... guess I can try."

"All you can really do kid. Jarick. Fuck that's going to take a while to get used to. Mind helping me bring the women their tea? Hopefully Voya won't have killed anyone before we get there."

Jarick gave a little grimace, his mind obviously still on whatever girl he wanted to talk to. Which belatedly reminded me that I'd have to remind him that we weren't going to be on Omega for more than a few months if everything went according to plan with Trisren. Then again, if he really wanted to stay with the Talons I wouldn't stop him. His life as a chef for them would still be a massive improvement over being a slave.

It would be a big decision for him... but that's what freedom meant.

The pair of us breezed through the hallways, him mostly keeping his head down, me nodding politely if not deferentially to the Talons that we moved past. It didn't take long to reach one of base's armories, specifically the only one that we were technically allowed in. I said technically because I was pretty sure that Voya had already hacked herself access to the others in part of her ongoing paranoia about making sure that she personally knew the fortress was secure.

Which worked for me, because I'd sooner take her word for it over Nyreen's people's.

"Rane, Voya." I called out as we entered the long room, dozens of weapons lockers and workbenches making it feel more crowded than it actually was. "I bring caffeine and whatever the dextro equivalent is."

"Your bring anything for us?" A human Talon that I knew catcalled from where he was modding a shotgun, his beard twitching as he grinned. "A drink would be real nice right now."

"Would it?" Pausing, I took a slow sip from my cup before nodding. "You're right, it is pretty nice."

"Asshole." He chuckled as he swore, his heavy body almost shaking. "If you weren't so useful I'd hit you."

"You couldn't catch me to hit me fat-ass, even with as fucked up as my knee is."

"It's power, not fat." As to emphasize that, he brought up both arms and flexed, showing that there was indeed plenty of muscle to go with the flab around his waist. "See? Plenty of strength to bounce your thin ass around."

"I'm wiry, not thin." I made sure to roll the r, and my eyes, as I kept walking towards where Rane and Voya were standing with another Talon, a dark skinned human woman, all three examining a disassembled mech. Rane had turned to wave at me when I'd initially called, but was already back to frowning in thought as the Talon gestured at Glitch's legs. "Why don't you go hit on ugly women or something Tom? Isn't that what you usually do?"

"Ugly women need love too. Going to get that armor done for tomorrow?"

I rolled my shoulder and head in an Asari shrug. "If I get around to it."

Well used to me by this point, he merely snorted and turned back to his own work. "Thanks Kean."

As we continued to close on the small group, I took a longer look at our guest. I didn't recognize her from any of my prior times here over the last couple of weeks, so she probably had just been transferred in from another one of the gang's detachments. She had coffee colored skin, and her dark hair was dyed with streaks of white that made the waist-length braid draw your attention. Like most of her comrades she was wearing dark slacks with a red shirt, more or less the group's off-duty uniform, and one of her arms was waving pointedly at Glitch's legs.

"Rane, your tea." I spoke up as we approached, holding out the appropriate cup. "Voya, the kid's got yours."

Voya glanced at me, eyes narrowed behind her mask, but she nodded thankfully to Jarick when she took it. While Rane likewise turned to accept her own, that left the Talon to glance at us.

"So, you're the Reyja'krem that the Commander told us about." The mystery woman grunted, glancing up at me. She was only around Voya's height, which made Rane seem even more towering in comparison. "Word is you've been doing good work on our equipment."

I inclined my head politely. "Thank you for saying so."

"Reyja'krem, this is Anastasia." Rane introduced me as said woman flinched at her name. "She prefers Stacy though. She helped get the automated defenses back online, and was helping us evaluate Glitch here."

 _And how many problems it still has._ Voya typed her words out on her omni-tool, the sentence glowing above her wrist. _We need to rebuild his right leg entirely._

I grunted, glancing down at the machine. "Well at least we've got the time. Is it the hip actuator again?"

"And its knee." Stacy dropped into a crouch, gesturing at the joint in question. "It looks all right at a glance, but if you do a heavy scan you can see some stress fractures from the grenades that destroyed it."

"Shit." That was going to be a bitch to replace. "Right. Jarick, you can go do whatever you want, thanks for your help earlier."

"Thank you sir. I'll... try to follow your advice." He gave us all a polite little bow, and then was off, probably to the kitchens. Or to work up is nerve.

"Advice?" Rane asked quietly, all of her dark eyes watching him go. "And help?"

"The former, Voya owes me a hundred and fifty credits." The Quarian in question started, flicking her suit mask between Jarick's back and me. "Latter will have to wait until later."

"Until I'm not around." Anastasia nee Stacy guessed, offering a little shrug when I turned back. "Not insulted, just joining the conversation."

I grunted, already thinking. "So you helped them figure out an issue with our mech. And you want... what in return?"

She blinked a little. "I can't just be willing to help?"

"This is Omega."

The innocent expression shifted to a wicked little grin, "Fair point Kean. My squad needs armor upgrades, bad. The Brotherhood is encroaching on our turf and I'd rather us have the advantage over those juiced up idiots."

"How many?"

"Twelve full suits. And yeah, I know it's not something I can pay for just by helping out with this fucked up little thing."

No it wasn't. That was quite a bit of work... but it wasn't as if I had anything else to do, and I'd at least be able to use the Talons' spare parts for it without having to keep track of things to pay Red back. "You help Voya and Rane with our mechs, and I want a favor."

"What kind?" Her eyes narrowed a bit in wariness that I couldn't really blame her for.

"We're pretty much stuck in here, and the channel selection is crap. I want vids."

She stared at me. "Vids."

"Preferably action, maybe some comedies. Historicals aren't bad either. Make sure they're new ones though."

"Vids." The Talon repeated tonelessly. "You want... Vids."

"Are _you_ stuck treading water in here? We haven' been able to go out since the warehouse incident."

"Which my Reyja'krem still needs to tell me about." Rane pointed out quietly.

Voya and I exchanged a short glance of alarm at the very idea. "Sure, sometime... later."

The lowborn sighed, then turned back to Anastasia "If you are improving our entertainment options, replays of the Hierarchy clawball finals would be appreciated as well."

"I'll... see what I can do." Our new friend managed, still sounding extremely confused. "Uh... my squad is staying just down the hall, I can have them bring their armor over anytime."

"First shift tomorrow will be fine." And with any luck it would occupy us until T'Ravt's council of war. With even more luck... I'd be alive to enjoy a few vids afterwords.

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 4: The Rivalries**


	35. Act 3: The Rivalries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well.. this chapter was a thing. Came out a bit longer than I expected mostly thanks to the internal thought processes as Cie struggles to process everything. But it seems like everyone is setting their plans as to what will happen when they get back to Illium, even if Cieran isn't exactly happy about the ones he's stuck with.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Rivalries**

Rane hadn't been happy about being left behind. She'd understood my reasoning, especially when I made it clear that I wasn't keeping her away out of some misguided attempt to keep her safe. If I didn't come back from my meeting with Sederis, always a serious possibility when it came to dealing with that particular Asari, she would have to get back to Illium on her own to tell Trena and Aethyta what had happened.

And since Jarick was obviously not coming with, that left me and Voya once again slowly making our through Afterlife in our armor, my cane striking the ground with every other step. The meeting was supposed to be taking place in one of the private rooms on the lower levels, about as far from the throne as you could be and still be inside of the massive club.

"Please stop fingering your knives." I spoke quietly into my helmet mic, warily eying some of Aria's troops as they stared at us in return. "I feel like I'm going to have to tackle you to stop you from killing someone."

Voya let out a little sniff, but forced her left hand away from her belt, while her right was pinned between us as she stayed as close as possible.

"Relax, we probably aren't going to be killed just yet."

Strangely that didn't seem to reassure her, at least if the glare she gave me through her mask was any indication.

"Sorry, you probably aren't going to be killed at all. My odds are a little worse."

She huffed loudly enough for her mic to pic it up, the annoyed breath echoing from my speakers.

"I'm _not_ being dramatic and I'm insulated that you think so."

Petite arms bulked up a bit with armor crossed her chest, silently telling me just how much she cared.

Sighing, I turned my torso back around so that I was facing ahead again, just as we started padding down yet another ramp. It was apparently the dividing point between the hosts and the guests, because at the top of it were a pair of Krogan wearing mismatched armor decorated with Aria's logo, and at the bottom were a pair of Turians wearing T'Ravt's off-white coloration.

None of the four guards did more than glance at us as we moved past them. The complications began shortly after that, thanks to a single Asari in Eclipse commando leathers waiting patiently just beyond them.

She was standing in what was probably normally a dance floor, and seemed tremendously unconcerned about the six Turians surrounding her with their talons on their weapons.

"About time you got here." Her accent was pure Nos Astra, the normally delicate language as harsh and crisp as if I was the one speaking. It... fuck, just hearing her speak made me nostalgic for that cesspool of a planet. "She's waiting for you."

Grunting, I glanced at Voya through my helmet. "Go ahead and find Tris, take some notes for me."

The Quarian glanced back up at me, her gleaming eyes narrow behind the glass. When I only nodded slightly, she seemed to let out a long breath before giving me a nod of her own and stepping away.

While she departed, moving with some of the other mercenaries and assorted hangers-on heading towards a private room, the Eclipse commando stepped past her counter-parts, ignoring their irritated shifting. "This way human."

"Lead on then."

She waved a hand towards a small hallway leading past the bar, silently guiding me past a few more white-clad guards, easily matching my slow pace. My knee didn't actually hurt, but I really wasn't in any hurry to get where we were going.

It wasn't a long walkway, apparently it served to connect the bar and dance floor we'd just left to another. This one was filled with more Asari commandos, though they were far more relaxed than their mostly Turian counterparts that we'd just left behind.

T'Ravt's people had been bracing themselves as if a storm was about to hammer them, everyone tense and ready to explode at the slightest hint of a problem. In comparison, the Eclipse were largely lounging, drinking, and two were even involved in what looked like a very intense make-out session.

I didn't doubt that any of them could have killed me, despite their apparent preoccupations, but I still found myself relaxing slightly. Which was stupid, sure, but also a testament to how Asari could be... well, Asari. They were all in armor and leathers, all were heavily armed, and yet they still managed to give off a relaxing atmosphere. If not for the yellow armor and logos plastered all over the place, I could have been in any lower-end bar in Nos Astra.

The pleasant nostalgia ended when my escort moved over to a closed door, politely knocked twice, and then stepped aside as it slid open on its own.

Tightening my grip on my cane ever so slightly, I limped into the room.

Jona Sederis was seated behind a plain table, both of her boots thrown up on it as she slouched backwards in her chair. Her armor remained an eyesore with its gold inlays, light flashing as she took a pull from a bottle. "Kean. Ditch the helmet and shut the door."

Exhaling, I did the latter, then calmly made me way to the chair opposite her as I pulled the heavy thing off of my head. "Sederis. It's been a few months."

Her blue lips curled a little, "What? No overly polite language? No Batarian head shifts?"

"If the Warlord would prefer me to speak to her as if she was T'Ravt, I would of course be willing." I set my helmet aside as I sat, shifting from the overly formal tones I used with that particular warlord back to my usual voice, "But I figured it would just annoy you."

"You'd have been right." She grunted, her eyes narrowing before she gestured with a hand. "Drink?"

I glanced at the bottles. "No thanks, never could stand that stuff."

"It's the only shit I can get down with the fucking meds." As if to prove the point she took a long pull before making a disgusted sound. "Or are you just afraid that I poisoned it?"

"If you wanted to kill me there wouldn't be much I could do about it." Crossing my arms slowly, I let out a long breath. "Poison would be pointless. Though you are being far more congenial than I honestly expected."

There was another grunt. "Gears is fond of you. Athame knows why, but she is. I figured I could at least make the effort, unless you'd rather me slam you around while I burn your limbs with warpfire until you tell me what I want?"

I swallowed slightly. "No thanks, this is good with me."

She gave me a small grin that was all grim amusement. "I thought so."

Exhaling again, I shook my head before reaching across the table to grab an unopened bottle. Ripping the top off, I took a quick pull, trying not to grimace at the taste of the Asari beer. "All right. So what brings the leader of the Eclipse all the way to Omega to speak with _me_?"

"A few things." Glass clinked as she set her drink down. "First, Gears agreed to handle a few favors for me back on Illium while I'm stuck on this fucking rock. In exchange, I tell you a few things."

I didn't bother to hide my grimace this time. "Shit."

Sederis gave a quiet chuckle, and actually nodded in approval. "That's an understatement human. To start out with, your boss is under house arrest in her family's compound on Thessia."

Aethyta was _what?_

"She's...you've got to be fucking..." Another drink of the disgusting alcohol was badly required, and I didn't set the stupid thing down until I'd drained half of it. "Athame's fucking azure."

"Next, I have a lovely little picture for your, courtesy of the Shadow Broker." Fingers idly plucked something from a pouch on her belt, flicking a rigid little piece of flimsy onto the table. "Meet Matriarch Cynthi T'Ravt."

Blinking in confusion, I glanced down at the tiny picture... and felt my heart stop as the blood drained from my face.

"She's a noted Asari supremacist, and officially hasn't left Thessia since personally exiling her youngest sister three centuries ago." Sederis continued as if I wasn't having a heart attack. "Currently she's leading a political bloc moving to dissolve Republic Intelligence entirely, with a secondary goal of putting a leash back onto Matriarch Lidanya. Of course, none of that fucking explains why she'd come all the way to Illium to drain the mind of a human mechanic."

I couldn't stop staring at the picture, the very same Matriarch who'd brought me here looking back up at me from the plastic sheet.

At least, until a blue hand smacked across my face. "Fucking grow a quad!"

Snapping back in my chair, I shook my head rapidly to try and clear the pain. "Sorry, it's just, it's... motherfucking..."

Sederis let out a hissing growl that would would have done a Vorcha proud. "Cieran Kean, you _will_ start fucking talking. Right. Now."

Something about her tone, and the fact that she'd just hit me, must have done something to my brain because I snapped back without taking a moment to think shit through. "What the fuck do you want me to say? How the fuck would I know why someone like her would haul her ancient ass to fucking Illium just to mind rape me?"

The Warlord blinking, head rocking back slightly in shock.

Proving that my mind was still on autopilot and not concerned with petty things such as survival, it continued to try and burn through the logic.

In Athame's fucking name... why would someone like her bring me here? What the fuck game was she playing? Why would someone like her be messing with humans at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to use her fellow Asari? As a member of the Thirty she'd be obscenely wealthy and probably have thousands of people loyal to her. How hard would it have been to insert one of them into the SR-1 crew? Fuck, with how much time she'd had she could have put one in C-Sec and pulled strings to get them partnered with Garrus.

I came back to reality when a hand grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the table. It then shifted to the side of my head, easily holding me in place before Sederis leaned down and spoke casually into my ear.

"The only person alive who can get away with snapping at me like that is Gears." Her other hand came to rest on the side of my neck, a finger slowly tapping about where I thought one of my arteries was. "Or would you rather I send warpfire into your veins?"

My throat worked as I swallowed, "Understood ma'am."

"Good." The Warlord didn't let me go, and the tapping continued. "Now. According to Gears, all you remember is scattered images and your name. Have you recovered anything over the past two years?"

"No."

There was a slow exhale that sent warm breath across my face, the finger on my neck pressing hard against my skin for several minutes in silent warning.

Right... shit. I had to give her something.

"I don't remember anymore than I did then," Which was strictly true, if not actually so. "But I've worked a few things out."

"Elaborate."

Using as short, concise sentences as possible, I explained what I'd been personally worrying over. How quickly I'd picked up technical skills, the Batarian languages, their posture, how I'd put my old power armor together despite being a relative neophyte.

Sederis relaxed slightly as I spoke, though she didn't let go of my head. "The more you speak the less this makes any kind of sense, human."

"It didn't make much sense before you told me who the Matriarch was." I admitted, flexing my left hand a bit and wishing I could straighten my freaking back. "It makes less now."

She let out a quiet humming noise, continuing on as if I hadn't spoken. "You were likely a slave of some kind, that would explain your easy recover of those tongues. Your technical skills are impressive, but someone of her stature wouldn't have any fucking problems finding an Asari with an ocean's worth of skills. If you put your gun away I will let you sit properly."

I winced a little, my right hand slowly returning the pistol I'd had pointed at her gut back to my waist. "Reflex. Sorry ma'am."

"Don't bother apologizing, you wanted to give me a scar to remember you by if I killed you." The Asari actually sounded approving, finally releasing my skull once she heard the pistol click as it collapsed. "Trena's father would have loved you."

"...is that a good thing?" I asked as I straightened back, wincing as a few joints in my spine cracked.

"She was a jealous, vicious tit of a commando with enough paranoia to fill a small sea." Which didn't answer my question in the slightest, not that she seemed to care because she again shifted topics without a pause. "You have to have known something. Something so damaging that the only thing she could fucking think of was to ravage your brain."

"If I'd known something she would have just killed me." Which is the thing that still didn't make any sense to me. Why the fuck hadn't she just killed me after she confirmed that the process that had brought me here had worked? Why had she waited a year and a half before sending the Nightwind out to kill me and make it look like an accident?

The only thing I could think of was she'd wanted to observe me to make sure that I adjusted well enough to my new universe, but that hardly seemed like a good enough reason. Especially with people like Aethyta and Sederis on planet, if I'd gone to either of them with what I knew, and somehow had convinced them of the truth... I could have seriously fucked up shit. More than things already were with the whole Blue Sun thing anyway.

Logic said that I should have been killed before she even left that apartment, which meant there was something I just couldn't see. Some reason she'd needed me alive, a reason that had apparently expired.

Her lips twisted. "Exactly. None of this fucking shit makes sense. Gears mentioned that your old fish had tracked down others who had already drowned, you know the details?"

"Ten others, one is brain-dead on... Thessia I think." I recited. "Most of the rest died from seizures during melds, the others were more suspicious."

"Nightwind bitches." Something dark and unstable flickered across her face, and I went very, very still as she took deep breaths and lidded her eyes. "Demons with collars treated like disposable weapons. They won't stop hunting you human. Not once they realize you're still alive."

Grimacing, I turned away. "First the SIU, and now the Nightwind. Well, I guess the latter tried first, just got lucky to get off of Illium one wave ahead of the tsunami."

"Either way you're fucked." Her voice was still hard. "Hiding away with that gang might have bought you time, but sooner or later the water is going to rise above your head."

Sooner rather than later knowing my luck. Exhaling, I nodded to accept her point. "I was planning on going back to Illium once T'Ravt's campaign was over with."

There was a long breath, "That is not an intelligent move human, moving closer to the Republics."

"Trena is there." I shrugged slightly in the Asari fashion. "It's the closest place to home that I've got. I know we won't be able to use the safehouse, but we could probably vanish into the lower class areas in the River District or Khar'shan Minor. And where else could I go? Like you said, the gangs won't protect me forever and I don't want to join them. The SIU will eventually get to us again if I stay on Omega."

Sederis leaned back slowly in her seat, her eyes still half closed as she stared at me. "You won't join T'Ravt? She would be your natural ally against her sister."

My lips twisted a little. "I won't lie and say I haven't considered it."

"But you aren't going to." A statement rather than a question.

"I don't know her well enough. She might take us on, or she might kill us for having worked for Republic Intelligence. Or throw me in a cell until my condition wears off and then try ripping my mind open herself." Something about the way she began to smile made my heart sink. "Or am I already in the custody of an Asari warlord?"

"You will be." The tense anger had vanished, and she sounded almost serene. "Gears is moving her bondmate and your two friends to my complex." Which probably had Illyan twitching, she'd never liked the Eclipse. Having to live in Sederis' mansion was going to cause problems. "She'd have preferred to travel here with me to join you, but with her bondmate's condition it wasn't possible."

Swallowing, I settled back in my own chair, exhaling as my back hit the metal. "You want me to do the same, and in eighteen or twenty-four months Ghai or your healers can start putting my brain back together."

"And tell me just what you know that scares that crone so much that she wants to kill you." A blue hand waved permissively. "Your current companions would of course be free to come with, I wouldn't even ask that any of you officially join."

Shit.

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on just thinking through my options. Did I even have options? Sederis wasn't the type to ask someone to do something, everything she'd just stated had already assumed that I was going to do what she ordered. So what the fuck could I do?

I could try for T'Ravt. She'd seemed to be tolerable enough, and like Sederis had said, she'd be well motivated to protect me from her sister. Of course, she'd be equally well motivated to keep my securely locked away until my condition wore off and she could meld with me. Or I could go along with what Sederis had stated and do my best to enjoy the next year and a half to two years of my life before Ghai peeked into my skull and saw all the crap that I knew.

Either way an Asari Warlord would suddenly have a whole fucking lot of information about the future, and I had no idea what they'd do with it. If I had my time-frames right, and I thought I did, my brain should have mostly healed a few months before or right around the start of the second game.

Shit. I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of telling anyone anything, or trying to change things. Just me _being_ here had apparently caused a war, and I shuddered to think of the hurricane I would cause if I actually _tried_.

But... shit. Maybe I could convince Ghai to lie and say that I was just then 'remembering' the game's events with her help. If Sederis was still stable, we could mitigate her losses at Shepard's hands on Illium and Omega, and make Thane and Samara's recruitment easier. After that she could gather her strength together to prepare for the Reapers... assuming that no one got paranoid that she was doing so and kicked off another brawl to pre-empt whatever they thought she'd be doing.

Maybe.

But... fuck, maybe it was time I came clean to Trena. Scales could help me work through this. She knew Sederis, she'd have some ideas about what we could do. Once she was done punching me for lying to her anyway.

Exhaling, I returned to myself and nodded very slowly. "I don't want to abandon Tris, she needs the support to keep her equipment running. Once their contract is up... if you could provide a shuttle, it sounds like a plan."

Sederis blinked, then leaned forwards and stared at me. "You're... agreeing?"

"Was I not supposed to?" My head shook slightly. "Honestly a vacation in your mansion sounds pretty nice right now, and I don't have any problems believing that you'll kill anyone stupid enough to come after us there."

She was still staring. "Most people wouldn't consider sharing a home with me to be a good thing, human."

"Most people wouldn't be friends with someone like scales."

There was another blink, and then a slow, lazy grin spread across her face. "She is an acquired taste, isn't she? And apparently a poor predictor. She didn't think that you'd agree."

"She hasn't been on Omega for six months. And I owe her a punch in the face for keeping me in the dark. Or five or six. You wouldn't mind if I broke her nose would you?"

The grin grew further. "You're growing on me human. Just make sure she can still talk, the mind healers say conversation is important."

"I will do my best." Suddenly exhausted, and realizing that I was _bantering_ with Jona Sederis, I could only shake my head. "Does that work for you? We stay until my obligations to my friends are completed?"

"Yes. I will be remaining on station for a few months, Aria and I have some _things_ to work out." I really didn't want to know. Well, given how Asari negotiations often went... no, Cieran, stop fucking thinking like scales. "I will know when the fighting is over and will contact you with the travel details."

Nodding, I pushed my chair back before rising. "If I may?"

My newest boss, fuck it sucked to realize that, waved a hand dismissively. "Go."

Grabbing my cane, and my helmet, I turned and attempted to flee her presence with some form of dignity. Which wasn't all that much, given what I'd just agreed to.

Athame's fucking... shit.

I tried to rationalize it a little bit. Even if I hadn't worked out the logic, Sederis easily could have locked me in a stasis, thrown me in a cell, and hauled my ass off to Illium without even being able to say anything to Rane or Voya. From that perspective going along with what she wanted was really the only choice I had.

Of course, if I _didn't_ go along with what I'd just agreed to, she wouldn't take it well. At all.

Grimacing, I yanked the heavy plating back over my head, waited for the hiss to indicate it was air-tight, and then limped out of the room. I entirely ignored the Eclipse commandos who were now apparently starting a drinking contest, heading back down the hallway I'd come through.

T'Ravt's Turian guards at the other end seemed surprised that I was still alive, but let me move past them, directing me to where the briefing was being conducted as if I didn't already know.

I was turning that way when I stopped, stared at the closed door... and then turned around.

"Arms Dealer, where are you-"

"I need a fucking drink." I cut off the man who'd spoken without looking back. To my surprise he didn't say anything else, nor did any of them stop me as I left the secured area.

Aria's goons more or less ignored me entirely, barely seeming to notice as I moved up the ramp and past them.

It took me a good fifteen minutes to find a bar area where the music wasn't so loud as to deafen me if I took my helmet off, though it was strangely one near Aria's platform. I couldn't see her distinctive coat, her absence probably explaining the subdued atmosphere. Without the Queen there was less reason for people to swarm the area.

Approaching the sparsely populated bar, I nodded politely to the Asari bartender as I removed my helmet. "Illium Moonrise. Two of them."

The purple skinned alien blinked, then shrugged. "Talls?"

"Yeah." Setting my helmet on the bar, I took a stool and leaned back against the single bar holding me up.

While she worked on my drinks, I flicked my omni-tool open and constructed a short message to Voya telling her where I was. Her reply was as pithy as it was insulting, but indicated that she was on her way up. Apparently T'Ravt was already wrapping up, and hadn't shown any indication that she'd noticed that I wasn't there.

Good for me.

Accepting my first drink, I passed the bartender a credit chit and waved off her offer for change. She'd done a respectable job, the bitter Asari liquor largely covered up. Not that I really noticed, because I downed half of my first inside of a minute.

Stupid? Yes. Necessary? Athame's fucking ass it was.

If me ordering the Asari drink had surprised her, the fact that I nearly downed it one go made my server actually say something. "That shit of a day?"

"You have no fucking idea." I muttered, forcing my hand to put the drink down before I inhaled the rest of it. "I have enough on that chit for water?"

She nodded, absently grabbing a clean glass before filling it with ice. A few moments later it joined my two mixed drinks, earning her a nod of thanks before she was called to the other end of the bar by a Turian.

Which left me alone with my thoughts.

Short of a calamity on a scale I couldn't fathom, I'd more or less just agreed to become Sederis's prisoner for the next two years. Oh sure, she liked Trena, and it would be a gilded cage, but it was still going to be a cage.

Trena.

Scales was the only one who could have told Sederis that the people who'd come after us were Nightwind. The only one who could have confirmed that the little photo she'd shown me was the Matriarch she'd met. She had to have at least guessed that something like this was going to happen. I doubted that she trusted Sederis despite their affiliations past and present, which meant that something else was going on. Something was worrying her to the point where she thought fleeing to the Eclipse was our best way to survive.

Of course, all of that was secondary to whatever the fuck the Matriarch was up to.

An Asari supremacist wasn't exactly the first thing that would come to mind when I though of someone who wanted to improve on what happened in the canon games. Maybe she wanted to save Thessia? But if she did then where were the larger Asari naval budgets and armament programs? If she had the political power to _imprison_ Aethyta, politely or not, she could have gotten something going.

Athame's fucking ass. What the _fuck_ was going on!?

My internal fury was broken when a slim figure dropped into the empty stool on my left, Voya's eyes narrowing as she caught sight of the glasses in front of me.

"Yes, it was that bad." I answered the unspoken question. "Yes, we have problems."

She seemed to wince, motioning silently for me to go on.

"Good news, I now know the name of the Asari that messed with my head." The gleaming orbs behind her mask widened massively. "Bad news, I have as much a chance of asking her why as I do of being elected to the Citadel Council."

A quick gesture.

"No, she's not dead. She's..." I glanced at the bartender to make sure she wasn't nearby before grunting. "...a member of the Thirty, and the Lady Warlord's older sister."

Voya recoiled slightly, her eyes not getting any smaller. Her fingers moved almost hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure. She brought a picture that the Shadow Broker provided, Athame knows how much that cost. I recognized her from... when I woke up." And the family resemblance was definitely there. Probably why T'Ravt had seemed so familiar when I'd met her with Tris. "Also means that the Nightwind is going to be joining the SIU in hunting me, soon as they realize I'm still alive. Which won't be long."

Another barely hidden wince and a gestured question.

"She did offer a deal... and I took it." Grabbing my first drink, I threw back what was left of it. "Once Tris is done, I'm going to be a 'guest' of the Eclipse, at least until my condition heals enough for mind healers to fix my brain so I can tell her why that old bitch attacked me. And why she wants me dead now."

My companion went as still as I had when Sederis had been close to losing her shit.

"I'll put you in contact with the doctor I know in Nos Astra, not going back on my word. I'll cover any costs you have for the operation. After that I'm not going to ask anything of you. You can come back here or stay on Illium, not dragging you into house arrest in Sederis's mansion with me."

A three fingered hand rose, a little shakily, to rub at her mask. She seemed to stare at nothing for a few moments, then shifted her fingers to sign another question at me.

"You've got plenty of time, not going anywhere until the Blood Pack is finished."

"Which is a good thing." A new voice broke in, making me grimace slightly. "Because I'd miss you. Even if you look rather ridiculous with blue fur."

"Ayle." I sighed, not bothering to turn around to formally greet her. "Not in the mood."

"Testy." My fellow Reyja'krem admonished, her heavy frame landing in the stool on my right. "You didn't even have to sit through that waste of breath meeting like your companion and I did."

"I would have preferred that to the meeting that I did have."

She let out a low, humming noise. "What did the madwoman want?"

Rolling my eyes, I jerked my chin to the right in silent condescension.

" _Testy._ " Ayle repeated, flicking her lower eyes down to my drinks. "And well on your way to intoxication. Rather unusual for you."

"What do you want Ayle?"

"A dozen brawny, naked males washing me while I relax in the shade of the Pillars." My lips twitched, almost against my will. "You know better than to phrase a question so poorly."

I did. "What do you want from me in this conversation?"

Some of the mirth faded as she leaned onto the bar, casually turning her torso away from me. "We're both being hunted. I thought a sharing of information would be in order."

It took me a few moments to think it through, the alcohol slowing things down a bit. "You're the one who asked T'Ravt to have us attend. I wondered why she wanted us here, didn't make sense to invite an arms dealer to a strategy briefing."

"That was my doing, yes." She admitted, dipping her head slightly in apology. "I'm to deliver two messages in exchange. First, she was impressed with the work you did, and understands why you aren't in a position to do more. Secondly, if your current landlords grow tired of you, she would be more than willing to take you in at reasonable prices."

"Give her my respectful thanks for the kind words."

"I shall." Air whistled slightly between her teeth. "How close did they get?"

I didn't bother misunderstanding her. "Illyan is on Illium recovering, I have a lovely new set of scars on my left arm. You?"

"I lost one of my cadre, and two freelancers." Dark lips twisted in anger. "I've reached out to a few of my contacts, it's a general movement by power blocs in the Hegemony."

"I heard about it already. The Fist and radicals against the liberals right?"

"And the conservatives are trying to push back against the traditionalists." There was a low growl. "Without a Hegemon to unify the councils they're all just wandering into the desert with no idea where they're going or how they will care for themselves. The SIU is splintering along political lines, and the warrior caste is struggling to not become involved."

Voya leaned onto the bar, shifting her omnitool in front of me so that we could both read her words. _What happens when the military can no longer stand aside?_

"T'Ravt and the pirates in the Dark Rim move against the new territory. Assuming the Alliance doesn't beat them there." Ayle let her head drop in thanks as I pushed my glass of water in her direction. "But that's for others to worry about. Personally we remain targets. You for being an alien, myself for being female."

"Any other Reyja'krem you know of?"

"Not many come this far into the Terminus." Her left shoulder rose and fell. "You and I remain the only ones on the station. An information broker I trust assures me there are ten or eleven total in the region, though most are operating closer to Xentha and Theodosius. Pillar of Unity?"

"Verse... Thirty-Seven." I nodded, taking a slow sip from my drink. "Timeframe is a problem though."

 _Verse what of what?_ Voya huffed behind her mask. _For once would the two of you be clear?_

"It refers to both the need to stand against adversity, as well as strength of numbers." Ayle explained patiently. "What your Reyja'krem is suggesting is that all of us with the title gather so that we can eliminate the SIU team that was sent to kill us. Kean, the timeframe?"

"I'm only on station until T'Ravt finishes her little operation. After that I have... obligations on Illium."

All four of her eyes blinked, but she nodded slowly after a moment. "Illium might be better regardless. Your former Tarath'shan is openly expanding her house's security forces, we could easily find work there. And if you have inroads with the Eclipse, eliminating a Hegemony team would be simple."

Long fingers brought new words onto the floating text file. _Nothing about fighting the SIU is simple._

I nodded again, thinking it over. I didn't think I could convince Sederis to do much, but I sure as hell could get Captain Vasir moving. I-Sec wasn't the Eclipse but they were competent enough, especially if we could lure the SIU into an ambush somehow.

Fuck. Maybe we'd get lucky and they'd be the same team that did the hotel. Something had to go right for us at some point... I hoped.

"You're both right. It won't be simple, but it could be workable. Ayle, it's probably better if you do the outreach."

"Agreed." She took a long sip from the water I'd given her. "Communication will be difficult, given our situation. Would your friend in the Silver Blades be willing to pass messages?"

"That should be workable." I shared a glance with Voya. "We're still supporting her group as far as equipment repairs goes, even if we have to be careful about it."

"Then we have a plan. I will update you on my discoveries, and we will make plans in more detail once the campaign is concluded and we are on Illium." With polite nods to us both, she drained the last of the water before departing.

Well... it wasn't nesscarily bad news. In actuality it was way fucking better than what I'd heard from Sederis, with the potential to eliminate at least one of the teams hunting me. Sure the Hegemony could send more, but if it was as much of a mess as Ayle and Shaaryak suggested... they might think twice about sending a team so far from home after the last was killed.

Maybe.

Groaning, I let my head sag as I stared into my remaining drink. "My life is too fucking complicated."

Voya hesitantly patted me on the shoulder, the gentle taps about the only comfort that she could give.

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Trena._

_User 2: I'm here, what is it Tris?_

_User 1: Message from out mutual friend for you. He agreed to the plan._

_User 2: He... Athame._

_User 1: You two want to tell me what in the goddess's name this is about?_

_User 2: He agreed?_

_User 1: Trena. Talk._

_User 2: I fucking can't. It's... shit. Did he say anything else?_

_User 1: He might have a method to deal with the Batarian problem, but that's a long-term project._

_User 1: Trena... he's my friend too. How bad is it?_

_User 2: It's bad. It's fucking awful. But... shit. But it's a way we have a chance._

_User 1: To do what?_

_User 2: When you get back here with him we can get drunk off our asses and I'll tell you._

_User 1: Your turn to swear by the goddess._

_User 2: I swear that you, me, Illyan, your Turian toy, Ghai, and the ape will be drunk as shit and we'll explain some of the crap going on._

_User 1: Good. No group-sex though. Dorvahn likes having me all to himself._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 5: The Armorers**

 


	36. Act 3: The Armorers

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Armorers**

"All right," Setting my glass of tea on the table, I glanced around at my friends. "Our council of war is hereby called to order. First thing on our to do list is for you Jarick. Go find your girlfriend and occupy yourself for a few hours."

The kid had been about to take the seat opposite me, and paused midmotion to stare in confusion. "But I though I was going to help."

"You can help with things like data analysis, it's safe enough. This shit," One of my fingers tapped the tablet in front of me, "Can literally get you killed just for knowing it. That's not a decision I'm going to make for you."

He blinked a few times. "I don't understand sir."

"What my Reyja'krem is saying, Jarick, is that your time to decide if you are going to remain with us has come faster than he might have preferred." Rane spoke tactfully. "He had hoped that you would have more experience in running your own life, but circumstances have changed."

I grimaced and nodded. "Here's the deal Jarick. If we tell you the stuff we're about to go over, you're stuck with us. For our own safety we wouldn't be able to let you walk away, because if anyone decided to interrogate and-or torture you they'd be able to find out shit that would make our lives very unpleasant in a hurry."

Jarick paled, swallowing heavily before he jerked his chin to show he understood.

"So you have a choice. You can either stay with, and be stuck with, us, or you can stay here and join the Talons as a cook full time. You'd see us around the base, but you wouldn't be staying with us anymore." His mouth moved to open, and I cut him off before he could say anything. "Don't make it right now because I'm not going to accept it. You have the luxury of time."

"How..." He had to swallow again, averting his eyes from the three of us. "How long do I have?"

"Until we leave. So weeks to months."

"If... if I stay, will you t-tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah."

"I..."

"Jarick." Rane spoke again, her voice firm but not unkind. "Go find Alicia. Watch a vid or cook her food. As the Reyja'krem said, you have time."

The kid bit his lip, exhaled, nodded, and then politely excused himself. My lover rose to follow him to the door, murmuring quiet words of encouragement before he vanished through the airlock. Once it was done cycling, she locked it before coming back to the table.

_Perhaps a bit too blunt with him Cieran. He's still nearly a child._

"I know." A long sip from my tea didn't make me feel much better. "But... shit. It's like Rane said, I didn't want this to happen now but..."

A three fingered hand shifted to pat my arm gently. _I understand. Now to business?_

"Yeah." Blowing out a heavy breath, I nodded firmly. "Right. Council of War, second point of order. Voya, you're staying with us?"

_Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here would I?_

"Fair point." I admitted, trying not to slump in my chair. "Moving on, we've got... a lot of goddess-damned crap to wade through."

My lover winced slightly, "Reyja'krem, we don't have to do this now. You haven't slept since you and Voya got back five shifts ago."

"I'm all right Rane, I can sleep after this."

 _Trisren is picking up those helmets she needed fixed in four hours._ Voya reminded me. _If you wanted to talk with her you should get some sleep now._

"I'll be fine." I glowered at both of them. "Once she and I are done I'll got to bed."

The two alien women exchanged a glance. "Reyja'krem, the skin beneath your eyes is dark, you're barely staying upright, and I believe you're slightly hungover."

"Rane, I'm-"

Voya's glare shut me up before I could continue, her fingers typing on her tablet. _Rane, you're too nice to him. I can handle this._

I felt my eyes narrow. "Voya."

The Quarian ignored my warning tone, slowly standing up and rolling her neck, her curtained mane of hair swirling slightly with the motion. Flicking my glance to the right, I winced as Rane pointedly leaned back in her own seat, her lower eyes firmly on her tablet while the upper set wouldn't meet mine.

Which meant I wasn't going to get any help from her.

Now, I was a lot larger than Voya. She barely cracked five feet, and even if Quarian bodies were denser than human ones, I still had a sizeable weight advantage. Of course, that didn't change the fact that I only rarely won our little brawls. I didn't have much of a sense of fair play, but I still had a few lines I wouldn't cross with friends.

Voya didn't.

So long as I was still breathing, she considered anything she did perfectly acceptable. It was a minor miracle that I hadn't lost an eye or teeth over the past few months.

Grimacing, I quickly pushed my own chair back, rising to my feet but making sure to keep the furniture in between myself and her. "Voya, seriously. We've got things to do, and lots of shit we have to go over. I can sleep in a few hours."

"I don't know a language where five is the definition of a 'few', my Reyja'krem."

"Rane, serious-fuck!" The moment I half turned to address Rane's dry remark, Voya had moved. The petite Quarian planted a single foot on my chair and vaulted it, a small fist snapping towards my face as she flew through the air.

Jerking backwards, I managed to avoid the punch, but that still left her entire body to slam into me as momentum carried her the rest of the way. I yelped in pain as I hit the hard floor, barely avoiding smashing the back of my head on it. In comparison Voya seemed to have no problems using me as a cushion, and quickly scrambled to her knees so that she could pull an arm back for another punch.

Snapping my arms up to protect my face, more grunts escaped my throat as she tried to batter her way past them, probably hoping to get me to sleep by way of knocking me out.

"Fine!" Tensing my right leg, I yanked it up and back, driving my knee right into the small of her back. Her lips twisted in a silent yell of pain, the crazed look in her eye growing. Thighs tightened around my waist, and then she threw herself over, dragging me right along with her.

I reflexively snapped my hands out as she continued to roll all the way to her back, planting them on either side of her head. Before I could even start to flush at the position we'd ended up in, she took advantage of the complete lack of a guard to grab my throat.

Choking, I nearly collapsed on her as she didn't let up her grip, easily fending off my attempts to get her to let go with one hand. After a few moments I let me other arm drop my full weight onto her, which didn't do anything. Trying to grab for her arm with both of mine only saw her free hand grab a wrist, easily controlling my limb with the leverage.

"Voya, that's enough." Rane spoke up when my vision started to darken at the edges, her voice sharp. "Let him go."

The pressure eased, my lungs swelling as I gasped for air. I didn't have time to enjoy the oxygen, groaning in pain when the Quarian negligently shoved me off of her, my head promptly smacking into a chair.

"Fucking... ow..."

There was a sigh, followed by footsteps. A shadow fell over me as my lover knelt beside my head, her warm fingers carefully inspecting my skin. "And to think that I once believed that my Reyja'krem and Trena were difficult to live with."

Voya must have signed something at her, because she spoke again a few moments later. "I know that he needs to sleep, but did you really have to go so far? Pillars... Cieran, are you all right?"

I managed to focus my eyes enough to glower at her.

"Will you allow me to help you to bed? We will wake you up when Trisren arrives." She promised. "Voya and I will continue to research what we can about Matriarch T'Ravt and your fellow Reyja'krem while you rest."

Groaning again, I cleared my throat with a few coughs before I let my head loll back to rest on the cool floor. "Doesn't seem like I have a choice."

"If my Reyja'krem had wished for an obedient lover, perhaps he should not have encouraged her to become the person I am now. You should have gone to sleep twelve or more hours ago and you know it." I winced a little, turning my head left in mild shame. Above me, there was a slow intake of breath before fingers slowly touched my chin, gently turning my head back to the neutral position. "You're exhausted, and badly stressed. Go to sleep."

Closing my eyes, I nodded as best I could, not really trusting myself to say anything.

Rane helped me get up and relocate to our bedroom, inspecting my throat for bruises before she helped me take my shirt off. I remembered her kissing me softly, the earthy flavor of her mouth distracting my from my new aches and pains... and then I more or less collapsed into sleep.

It was dreamless, for once. Which made me all the more irritated when someone shoved the door open a few minutes later, light assaulting my eyes from the hallway.

"Oh. Shit." Trisren had the decency to sound rather taken aback. "You didn't fucking tell me he was sleeping."

"Yes, I did." My lover's voice carried down the hall. "You simply ignored me."

"Athame's ass, you didn't-"

"Tris!" I snapped, keeping an arm over my face to block the light. "Stop. Shouting. And either get in here or close the door and wait for me to get up."

There was a startled pause, then footsteps were followed by the cheap door closing to shelter us from the demonic invention known as lights.

"Sorry Cieran." The Asari spoke again, her voice noticeably lower in volume. "I was... in a bit of a rush, must have missed her saying that."

"It's fine." Shifting my arm down, I used that hand to cover a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Two hours into shift three. You dressed under those blankets?"

"Mostly." Grimacing, I squinted my eyes before flicking my omni-tool to life. A few button presses later had the single bulb in the ceiling set to dim, letting me see where she was leaning against the door.

From the look of her, she'd just come from a fight and hadn't bothered to change. Her navy and white armor was battered and scorched, though she at least didn't seem to be as banged up. "You all right?"

Tris waved an armored hand. "I'm as exhausted as you look, apart from that I'm all right. We didn't lose anyone or have any major casualties, so we still have the wind at our backs. Hopefully it'll last."

Grunting, I shifted myself upright, wincing as my back protested the move. Stupid Voya. Stupid floor. "I'd drink to that if we had drinks. Here for the helmets?"

"And to talk to you." She seemed to hesitate. "You doing all right Cie? You and Voya vanished before we could talk at T'Ravt's briefing, but I heard you hit the bar pretty hard. And Rane said you more or less kicked Jarick out until he decides something."

"Yeah..." Looking away from her, I stared at nothing in particular. "I'm... shit. No, I'm not all right."

"Is it something you can talk about? Trena won't tell me crap until I'm back on Illium."

I nodded slightly. "Makes sense, She wouldn't trust the Intelligence servers."

"Is.." Her voice hitched. "...this about the Nightwind raid?"

"Yeah. Sederis... owed me a minor favor for what happened in Nos Astra. She came through with who sent them."

There was a slow groan as her head dropped. "If your and Trena's reactions are anything to go by, it's not good news. Does it also go along with why I can't get a hold of our boss anymore?"

"Yeah."

"Athame's... shit. And you two are compartmentalizing the information to protect the rest of us. And yourselves I suppose." She waited for me to nod before she swore again. "Fuck. If you tell me, I'm going to be stuck with whatever plan you lot have come up with, aren't I? Something that involves the Eclipse, can't think of another reason you'd get drunk right after meeting with that crazy bitch."

I winced. "You'd... probably be in for the long haul, yeah. And the odds of survival aren't exactly good."

The tall Asari grimaced, looked at the floor, shook her head once, then exhaled and nodded. "You poured medigel inside of me when I was doing my overcooked fish impression. And despite the fact that we don't always get along, you're still a friend. Don't think I'd like myself much if I walked out on you right now."

"Fifty credits say you regret saying all that." Something like a smile appeared and then vanished. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

It took about twenty minutes to get the entire story out, minus my actual past as always. She interrupted me almost constantly, but her questions were always rather pertinent. By the time I was done, Tris was sprawled across the narrow width of the bed just below where I sat cross-legged, and a fifty-credit chit was sitting on the nightstand.

"I can't tell Dorvahn about this." She muttered to herself, staring at the ceiling. "His sense of honor would demand we do something about it."

"Running and hiding is doing something."

Her blue nose flared as she snorted. "Not to a Turian. And this is... goddess. A member of the Thirty, one of the most revered Matriarchs on Thessia... who spends her free time mind-raping humans, and she's using the Nightwind as her personal clean-up team."

I tried not to wince. "I'm guessing you won't be fleeing to Sederis's place then."

"No. I don't blame you for doing it, it's practical and will keep you alive." She let out a slow exhale. "But even if I wasn't with Dorvahn I don't think I could tolerate being there. Besides, I can do more for you and Trena if I'm free to move around."

Resting my elbows on my knees, I leaned forwards to frown at her. "Like what? I'd rather you didn't commit suicide by doing something stupid."

"I... don't know." Tris admitted, shifting a bit so she could look up at me. "No, wait. I could look for who you were."

I blinked. "What?"

"Who you were before that bitch broke you. Doc Sayran and Xerol Shaaryak's old doctor both said you didn't have the usual immunizations and gene work that Alliance citizens get. Your age means you must have been born right after the Relay 314 fiasco. Logically, you put those two together... your parents must have been some of the first out humans to head into the Traverse or Terminus."

All of that would have made sense if not for the little fact that I wasn't even from this reality. "So, what, you track them down and then... hope to figure out why I was targeted in the first place?"

"Pretty much."

Nodding, I tried to make a show of thinking that was a good plan. "That could be something. The Hegemony is still an issue too though."

"I'm not the Batarian expert that you are, or even at Trena's level of familiarity."

"You wouldn't have to be. Remember the thing about the Reyja'krem? Ayle and I might need someone to pass messages that the SIU can't track. You think you could handle that plus your investigation?" And with any luck, we'd keep her too busy with the former to waste her time on the latter. Or if things got too dangerous I could let her go off on her destination-less voyage.

"That could be doable." She spoke slowly, nodding as she appeared to mull it over. "I could set up dead drops for you, maybe work with Captain Vasir. I'm assuming you plan on telling her?"

"About the bit with the Hegemony, yeah. The T'Ravt thing... I'd rather not put her in the position you're stuck in. Even if you did ask for it."

"I did, and you're up fifty credits because of it."

"That's a tiny patch of sunlight." I agreed. "You still want to head back to Illium with us before you head out again?"

"I will. Will also need an excuse to resign my commission... maybe Sayran can fake a pregnancy test for me."

I couldn't stop from snorting. "Really? That's the first thing you go for?"

"You'd be surprised at how hard it is to quit. Then again maybe you wouldn't be." Tris shook her head and sighed. "We should probably go let Rane know we're alive and not having sex."

"As if. You can't stand the hair."

"Ugh, no." She made a face. "It bristles. And _moves_. Why Illyan wanted to end up with you so badly I still don't know."

"I'm half convinced she mostly just wanted Rane." Turning, I unfolded my legs and tried not to moan as the muscles stretched. "I was just something exotic on the side."

"Turians are exotic. Humans and Quarians are just... weird. No offense."

"None taken." Grabbing my shirt off the floor, I yanked it up and over my head. "Ready to see if we actually know anything about anything?"

"Besides the small matter that we'll be lucky to survie the year?"

"Besides that, yeah."

Groaning, she hauled herself upright, and the pair of us exited the cell turned room. Shuffling down the hall and into the kitchen found Rane and Voya more or less where they'd been before they'd insisted on my nap. There was even a cup of tea in front of my usual seat, and a bottle of the disgusting beer that Tris drank in front of the other open spot.

"Feeling better, my Reyja'krem?" The lowborn spoke quietly as I sat, her lower eyes nervously on her tablet while the upper set flicked my way.

"A bit." I admitted. "It was... a good idea."

Copper toned lips curled a little, the only sign of satisfaction that she allowed herself before she returned her attention to the text in front of her.

 _Would have been more fun if she'd let me handle it entirely._ Voya sniffed while still managing to look a little smug. _And we told you so._

"Yeah yeah." Taking a sip from my tea, I took a few moments to appreciate the rich flavor before pushing on. "Council of surviving the next few years is called back into session. We want to start with Hegemony or Republics?"

"The latter." Rane replied, "We have less information there, but also a firmer course of action."

Tris took a pull from her beer before she cut in, "What did you find out about Cynthi T'Ravt?"

The lowborn's lower eyes flicked to her tablet, while the upper set stayed on Tris. "A lot yet very little at the same time. For the basics; she is eight hundred and twelve years old, is a member of the Thirty, and is an extreme recluse. Images of her are rare to non-existent, which is a nearly impossible feat by itself, and by all accounts she hasn't left Thessia in over a century."

"All accounts are apparently wrong."

She dipped her head in my direction. "Indeed, my Reyja'krem. The T'Ravt clan is up there in political power, though not so much as they once were. Their alliance with the Vasir and T'Voth hurt them badly when the Militant party broke apart with Aethyta T'Voth's self-exile a century ago. Their, and by extension her, politics are essentially as both Shaaryak and Sederis described."

 _Pro-Asari racist bosh'tets._ Voya typed out irritably, a hand flicking up to brush some of her mane out of her face. _Thank you so much for making me read their press releases._

"You're welcome." I blithely ignored both her sarcasm and the annoyed glare her wide eyes threw my way. "What else did you find Rane?"

"She ostensibly has the loyalty of three commando houses, and several other minor families that contribute everything from credits to servants." My lover gave a little shrug. "While her family does not have the obscene levels of wealth that some of the other members of the Thirty do, they are still high on Illium's list of wealthiest people in the Republics. And she apparently has the authority to dispatch Nightwind teams."

"Which is a blatant breach of the accords that saw the Republics created." Tris growled. "The Thirty shouldn't be able to assign that kind of thing without leaving evidence, achieving agreements with the relevant committees."

_There aren't any. Nothing publicly accessible anyway._

"How far back did you go?"

 _Eight centuries._ The Quarian gave a little shrug. _That was the first time the word 'Nightwind' was publicly used in reference to commando teams._

"No paper trails is a problem," Exhaling, I rubbed my forehead with a hand. "Maybe if we get Aethyta back she'd have access to files that we don't. But that's too big of a goddess-damned if. Did you find anything about her on a personal level? More than just the PR shit that her family turns out?"

Rane's lips thinned slightly. "She arranged for her sister's exile several centuries back for eloping with a Szhoc'tinnan, back when my people still awarded that title appropriately _._ "

"So she's always been a bitch. Nothing else?"

"As I said, she is frustratingly private. Excepting the odd press conference, usually run by one of her cousins, the entire family stays out of the public spotlight as much as possible."

_Plenty of guards, apparently a total recluse... No real chance to assassinate her then._

_Her_ lower eyes blinked. "Would we even have the resources to pay an assassin with the skills to do so?"

"No." I grunted. "If I pooled everything from the accounts I've got here, and if Trena fronted everything I left to her when I 'died', that's about a million and a half. We'd need five or six to even get the attention of anyone skilled enough to pull off a strike like that on Thessia. And it would probably just be a down payment."

 _I'm not sure if I should be concerned or proud that you already did that math._ She paused melodramatically before continuing. _I'm going with proud._

 _"_ I'm... Athame, can we not talk about assassinating a member of my government? Even if she might deserve it." Trisren took another long drink. "Is there anything else? Anything we didn't already know?"

_Nothing that we've found in the last day and three quarters. We might have more luck on Illium, when we don't have to deal with Omega's makeshift networks._

"We'll certainly have plenty of time." I agreed. "Right, so. Bitch of a Matriarch, potentially illegal access to government assassins, but we still don't have a motive or even a guess at a motive."

"That is accurate, my Reyja'krem." Air whistled between Rane's teeth. "Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the Hegemony. Their motive is rather obvious."

Tris glanced between us, "More than him just being an alien with a title?"

 _The new Patriarch Balak put out a press release in the Hegemony's state news._ Voya flicked an apologetic glance my way. _Cieran's head is worth an estate, promotions, wealth, and considerations towards caste elevation to whichever SIU team or loyal Harath'krem that delivers it to him._

Even more or less having expected to hear something like that, I still flinched a little and held my glass of tea a bit tighter. It was one thing to be wanted because you were part of a group, but hearing that an asshole was offering the social equivalents of a massive fortune for my severed head was still... ugh.

Rane reached out, her fingers gently wrapping around my wrist. "There are... other Reyja'krem, mostly aliens, who have similar offers being put out by Highborn who hold grudges against them. Yours was merely the one with the greatest potential rewards."

All because I'd fallen for Nynsi Shaaryak. Fuck, that felt like a lifetime ago now. "We'll have to worry about the other Reyja'krem that we bring in. They aren't technically exiles, might tempt a few of them."

 _We already checked Ayle._ The Quarian didn't have any problems anticipating the one I was most worried about. _Her bounty is tied with an Asari named Shyeel for the next highest after yours._

"How do you measure value in social favors like those?" Tris frowned. "Or did they give credit values?"

 _They did._ She tellingly didn't give them. _We were going to confirm what's public with whatever Ayle can give us. Assuming her contacts will still respond to her after this._

"Assuming that. If they don't, we might have to talk to... someone."

My lover sucked in a slow, unhappy breath. "Shaaryak."

It was my turn to shift my hand, gently holding hers. "I'm not thrilled about it either, but they don't just let people in and out of the Hegemony. And she does hate the Balak family. Worse comes to worse we can always pay her for the information."

She still didn't look happy, but she nodded politely to accept the point.

"Did you find anything about the others that Ayle might try to bring in? What about that Asari you just mentioned?"

 _Shyeel. No clan name given, she was a Harath'krem in good standing until the heir of the house she served got a bit too touchy for her tastes._ Voya's lips curled lazily in approval. _So she removed his hands and another piece of his anatomy._

I shuddered reflexively at the very idea.

"We don't have much information on her beyond that, my Reyja'krem." Rane took over, focusing again on her notes. "A few indications that she hired herself out as a freelance sniper during the war, then nothing. Apart from that, none of the bounties covered their targets locations. I believe they were mostly intended to alarm and inspire fear in their targets."

"How very Batarian." Tris muttered. "No offense Rane."

"None taken."

The Asari spy sighed and finished off the last of her beer. "As much as I'd like to stay, I'm barely awake right now, and I've got equipment to get back to my own place. Obviously I don't want any of this in writing Cie, but if you could find a time in a couple of weeks to update me again I'd appreciate it."

"Of course." Flicking my eyes right, I caught my lover's upper set. "Rane, your armor's repainted in Talon colors isn't it? You think you could escort Tris back?"

"I would be happy to." The lowborn's lips curled a little. "I'm assuming you would also like me to get some things while I'm out?"

"If by things you mean food. And by food you mean steaks for Jarick to cook us." Good food wouldn't magically make everything better, but right now I'd take even a small win like being able to eat something delicious.

I had no way of knowing it at the time, but we had another two months filled with nothing but exhausting waiting ahead of us. At the time, I hated it, wishing that the Blood Pack would hurry up and abandon Gozu so that we could leave.

But with everything that happened after that... I should have appreciated the peace more than I did. I should have appreciated everything more than I did.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 6: A Morning Star** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the final time skip of the story. From here on out, the remaining chapters and epilogue chapters are going to be more or less continuous.
> 
> Rane continues her growth of being able to actually speak what's on her mind, even in circumstances when Cieran disagrees with her. Voya remains Voya, and Tris has been brought into the group of people aware that Matriarch T'Ravt is very much up to something, even if she might regret wanting to know now that she does.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	37. Act 3: A Morning Star

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 6: A Morning Star**

I had just finished washing my hair, finally fully returned to its natural light brown after a few more dying incidents, when someone started pounding on the shower room's door. They were pounding hard enough to be heard over the coarse water blasting over me, and the lack of a voice shouting for my attention revealed who was trying to get my attention as easily as if she'd been able to.

"Voya!" My voice easily carried as I grabbed my long hair, making sure I'd gotten all of the soap out of it. "Two knocks if it's critical!"

Sure enough, two heavy pounds followed.

Athame's fucking... groaning, I reached behind me and killed the water stream before flailing around for where I'd left the towel on a wall rack. Focusing on my lower half, I did the minimal amount of drying required to not soak my pants and socks when I yanked them on. The important things covered, I continued to try and dry my long hair as I padded over to the door and unlocked it.

The Quarian glanced up at me from where she'd been looking at a tablet, her wide eyes barely glancing at my scarred chest before she offered up the thin computer.

Taking it, I glanced over what she'd written. "Tris and the Blades finally got back? They all make it?"

She nodded, a long finger pointing a few lines down.

"T'Ravt finally released them?" Shifting left, I leaned against the doorway and tried not to groan in relief. "It's about fucking time. Garm pulled his Krogan out three weeks ago."

Voya signed a few words at me.

"I know they left a few hundred Vorcha behind, but they're fucking Vorcha. She didn't need them for that." From the way she shrugged, she entirely agreed with me, but there hadn't been anything we could do about it. "Is Rane on her way back then?"

A quick nod was followed with a few numbers.

I grunted. She was probably stopping for food then, not that I could blame her. As good of a cook as Jarick was, there was only so much he could do with what the Talons bought. About the only good thing was that there were enough Turians with the group, including its leader, to insure that Voya had at least as much of a variety as we did.

Said alien woman took the tablet back, entering more text so that she didn't have to keep using sign language. _How long until Sederis contacts us with the shuttle information?_

"Hopefully not long." And wasn't that an understatement. We were all ready to get our asses off of this station and back to temperate Illium.

Goddess. Weather. Of all the things I missed the most, I missed having _weather._ Rain, clouds, real sunlight, actual air...

My longing was distracted by Voya typing out a few more words. _How long do you think it will be before I can see your doctor?_

"She'll probably want a consult first." I shrugged, finally resuming drying my torso and curtain of hair. "But I wouldn't think it'll be that long. I'll get in touch with her as soon as we land. If she can't I'm sure the Eclipse has doctors on staff with the skills to do it."

_I'd rather not put my life in the hands of Eclipse doctors._

"Our lives are already going to be in Sederis's hands." I reminded her. "If a doctor tried to do something I don't think they'd survive long."

She winced a little, more at the former point than the latter. _I'll consider it if yours can't._

"Either way, you should be able to properly curse at me in a month or two. Maybe three, I have no idea what the recovery time will be."

_Assuming that I can remember how to speak properly. It's been over a year._

"Seriously?" I snorted, throwing my towel over her face. "Somehow I don't think you'll have any problems remembering how to swear."

A three fingered hand yanked the wet cloth off of her face, her lips twisted and twitching slightly. _Suddenly I'm not as worried. You don't speak either dialect of Khellish, do you?_

"No."

_Good. It will be more fun if you have to look it all up later._

Rolling my eyes, I unfolded my shirt and pulled it on. "You're going to spend the entire trip to Illium trying to find the perfect things to call me as soon as you can, aren't you?"

She gave me a smile that was all ivory teeth, her double set of canines gleaming in the light, and then she spun on a heel and strolled back towards the living room. Rolling my eyes, I padded barefoot after her, heading into the kitchen while she took a seat on a couch.

"You want tea?" Her mane of white hair rustled as she nodded. "Usual? Got it."

I watched as the water started to bubble, trying not to sag in total relief.

We were going to be leaving this fucking station. We'd be going home.

Well, to Sederis's mansion slash headquarters, but it was still on Illium. And more importantly it was off of Omega. No more stepping over corpses on our way to buy food. No more hearing women be raped on our way back. No more cowering in a gang's lair, stuck sleeping in former slave's quarters.

Goddess.

A hand wave brought my attention back to Voya, her omni-tool gleaming as she sent me a message.

_How much have you heard from Ayle?_

I shrugged a shoulder. "Not all that much since last week. Why?"

_Wondering how long it will be until we're fighting for our lives, again._

"Maybe you'll be lucky and still recovering." Reaching up, I snagged a pair of glasses from the simple cupboard. "Otherwise it probably won't be more than a few weeks before they track us and the other Reyja'krem there. Assuming the SIU is their usually competent selves anyway."

_Did she receive any more agreements?_

"Shyeel is in, she's sick of being hunted. And apparently she wants to meet me because the idea of someone else having a higher bounty is insulting to her." Voya seemed to silently chuckle at that. "She knows a pair of human freelancers that she wants to bring in as well, but Ayle is handling the negotiations. All I know is that the woman is a biotic and not exactly stable."

 _We aren't exactly stable either._ She pointed out. _Hardly a reason to dismiss someone who might be able to kill Hegemony assassins for you._

"Speaking from the Pillars Voya." Carefully grabbing one of the tea pots, I carefully started to pour it. "A Batarian male named Thul ul Aldaara is also open. He's a staunch traditionalist, and the SIU killed his cadre two weeks back. He's already on his way to Illium. Another Asari and two Turians are interested but are already under contract with other groups, they'll join if they can wrap up their own shit in time."

Which compromised most of the Reyja'krem still alive and willing to group up to take on the Hegemony hunting teams. Seven fucking survivors. Well, technically nine if you included Xerol Shaaryak's former Harath'krem. But Ghai was obviously not about to be getting into firefights anytime soon, and as far as I knew Iyate was still on the Citadel. Not that there had been all that many outside of the Terminus to begin with.

Most Reyja'krem were Batarian, and not technically exiled, so it was easy for them to find work inside the Hegemony. Others had already been killed before Ayle and I had realized that the hunt was on. Still more weren't really being targeted, or had left the Terminus for Citadel space to take more legitimate jobs.

So seven of us. Plus whatever cadres they had or freelancers that they apparently knew. The usual SIU team was ten or twelve strong, and we'd accounted for a few in the attack on Ironhold. More had probably died taking on Thul and the others who'd already died, so it was possible they'd be down to similar numbers.

We had a chance. Especially on Illium, where I at least knew the terrain and the people.

Voya apparently agreed with me. _Not as many as I'd like, but its definitely workable. Especially with the Eclipse._

"Plus I-Sec. And Shaaryak's existing security forces." My lips twitched. "Fuck, if we can get them to try and attack her mansion it'll be a slaughter."

_I would drink to that, but you haven't given me my fucking tea yet._

"Did you want it poured over your head? If so please do continue."

_If you even look like you're going to I'm going to..._

Her words ceased, her head cocking in puzzlement as her omni-tool began flashing with an incommoding message. Strangely, my own was doing the same, blaring in silent alarm. Flicking my fingers in a commanding gesture, the digits hitting the hardlight, I tried to make sense of what I was reading.

"The emergency alarm from Ironhold? What the fuck? Didn't we disable that when we left?"

The Quarian nodded, face drawing into a frown before she gestured a name.

"Calling her." Suiting actions to words, I killed the automatic alarm and called my lover.

She answered almost at once, which didn't surprise me, her voice rising over the background babble of a restaurant. " _Reyja'krem. You're receiving it as well?"_

"Voya and I both are, but she says she definitely disabled it on our way out."

_"Could the Talons have reactivated it by accident?"_

My current companion shook her head. "Voya says no. Did we tie anything into that system that might be triggering now? Maybe something you setup before you handed Voya the code?"

" _Not that I..."_ Her voice trailed off. " _Wait. Didn't we link Ironhold's alarms to the Blades headquarters? So that either you or Trisren would know if-"_

 _"_ If the other was under attack... oh shit. How far are you away?"

 _"I'm near the public lifts, not more than fifteen minutes away."_ Someone shouted something about being shoved. " _I'm already moving"_

"Don't get involved until we get there." I snapped, ignoring the tea to start moving back to the room I kept my armor in. Voya blurred past me, the pair of us nearly tripping over one another as she darted to grab her own equipment. "Report and tell me what's going on."

 _"Reyja'krem, I_... _understand."_ If she could help, she knew I'd let her. But if there were too many of whoever they were... I wouldn't let her throw away her life. _"I'll contact you when I have a better idea of the situation."_

She killed the line, leaving me to bang a cheap door out of my way before starting to grab at armor plates. It took critical minutes to get it all on, minutes I didn't know if we really had or not. Minutes I didn't know if Trisren and her people had.

Air hissed around my neck as I pulled my helmet on and sealed it, my HUD flickering to life as the armor began to draw power from the powerpack in my back plate. With that out of the way, hands seized my reliable sub-machine gun from its rack, and followed that up by attaching a traditional tech launcher to my belt.

After a moments hesitation, I still darted back to the bedroom I shared with Rane, shoving my partially upgraded pistol onto my right hip before I grabbed my cane.

"Voya!"

The Quarian emerged from her own room at my shout, her own heavy plates overlaid on her suit, eyes gleaming in the thin slits of her mask. Her sniper rifle collapsed after a momentary check, taking its place on her back as she nodded.

We were out of the airlock a few moments later, hitting the override to avoid having to wait. We'd worry about decontaminating the place later. Assuming the base was still here when we did, because as if our own problems weren't enough, the Talons apparently had their own as well.

I knew they did because the place's alarms began to blare before we'd taken more than a few steps, the irritating klaxons screaming as lights flashed.

What the FUCK was going on!?

Snarling, I accelerated as best I could, the hallways suddenly filled with gang members shouting and cursing as they struggled to get to their rooms and the armories. More than one was demanding to know if this was a drill or not, but none of them got an answer that I could actually hear.

Voya and I made it to the main hall maybe five more minutes later, my cane and armored elbows working to help us move through the crowd.

Not that it mattered, because the fucking main doors were very much shut and locked down.

"Athame's fucking... I need those doors open!" I shouted over the confused din, several figures near the controls whirling to stare at us as we emerged from the chaos. "We need to get out, you can shut them after us!"

"Kean." It showed how distracted I was that I didn't recognize Nyreen until she spoke. Her mandibles were flaring in inscrutable patters, though she was also having to shout in order to be heard. "Why do you need out?"

"The Blades are under attack, and Rane is out there." I snapped, trying to rein in my desperate impatience. "So if you could _please_ open the fucking doors?"

"Kean, fighting is spreading throughout the station. If you go out there-"

"Red." Her mouth closed as I cut her off. "I don't care. Rane and Tris are in trouble. Open the fucking door. Please."

The Turian woman stared at me for a long moment, then nodded. "Their place is in our territory, we'll coordinate. The chef kid has your omni-tool information?"

"Yes."

"You, open the main doors enough to let them out. You, get to the kitchens and find that human. Jarick. Move!" Two other Turians promptly moved to obey, one stabbing at the door controls while the other darted away. "The news is chaotic right now. I'll update you when I can but my priority is going to be protecting the civilians in our districts."

"I understand." She gave me a look, probably having expected me to say something else, like offer to help protect the people or something. Which I'd be happy to do, once I knew that Rane and Tris were all right.

The heavy bulkhead doors began to slide before I could try and offer something more diplomatic, Voya already moving forwards. I moved to follow, calling back to try and leave a slightly better impression. "Thanks Red, we'll update you when the Blades base is secured! If we can help after let us know!"

That seemed to mollify the Turian a bit, the gang leader giving me a nod just as we passed outside of the base proper. The doors began to slide shut almost before I was through them, the dozen plus guards outside quickly moving out of our way as we accelerated into runs.

We were still in the same district as the Blade base, the problem was that they were at the top where we were damned near the bottom. So the question was did we take the lifts or did we go for an aircar? Shit, if Nyreen was right and there was fighting spreading across Omega, there was no way I was going to trap us in an elevator.

Of course, we only had her word for that. The local crowd seemed normal enough, at least, by Omega's standards. Lots of people wandering aimlessly, some purposefully, and only one mugging occurring within my line of sight.

Better to be paranoid than sorry, and an aircar wouldn't slow us down all that much.

"Left." I grunted into my mic, "Grab a taxi."

Voya promptly turned in that direction, the pair of us darting down the tunneled avenue that lead to the lot. Three minutes later had the pair of us shoving a Salarian out of our way to grab the last taxi, ignoring his indignant shrieking entirely as my companion overrode the VI to take control, my back slamming into the chair as she promptly put is into a straight climb.

"Hit the main throughway to the core, we can land at the station near the slave market and take the ramps up from there."

Her eyes narrowed, one hand leaving the controls to sign a rude sentence in my direction.

"Yes, you're driving, I'm just..." I shut up when her glare only worsened. Thankfully my helmet speakers crackled a few moments later, an incoming message distracting us both. "Rane?"

 _"Sorry Kean, it's Red. Found Jarick and got your information from him, and we have bad news for you. For everyone really."_ It was a fight not to snap as she seemed to pause dramatically. She didn't seem the type, so it was probably just her checking on something before she spoke. " _Ganar Yulaz just released a video calling for the Blood Pack to rally to his side so that they can depose Aria. He says the Blue Sun war exposed her as nothing but a cheap whore unworthy of anything but death."_

Oh shit. Oh motherfucking goddess damned shit. Athame's fucking azure this was... "How bad is it?"

" _Garm is trying to force his way into Afterlife as we speak. He's got smaller groups counter-attacking T'Ravt in Gozu, and hit squads are going after the mercs she hired for the campaign."_ That explained why Garm had pulled his Krogan out of that district, leaving only Vorcha to contest the Lady Warlord. It hadn't made much sense at the time, the Blood Pack weren't known for strategic withdrawals. But they wouldn't have problems with retreating if the promise of a much bigger fight was dangled in front of them.

Nyreen continued as my mind raced. " _News from the rest of the Terminus is chaotic, they're hitting everywhere they can get their ships to, no one's sure what's going on."_

"What about the gangs?"

 _"The Brotherhood is using the confusion to go after the White Tigers, they won't be able to help. The Wave and Hunters are also fighting it out over hanger access in the lower levels."_ Irritation laced her words. " _The latter is also encroaching on Fumi's lower levels which is limiting my ability to counter the damned Pack."_

"And the Eclipse?" I tried not to wince, grabbing at a handlebar as Voya threw the aircar between a pair of trucks before banking hard to get us into the core. "What's Sederis doing?"

" _Nothing at the moment, the Pack hasn't gone after them yet and no one wants to deal with them while she's on station."_

Which meant our route off-station was still in place. If we could get to Rane and Tris, then help the Talons secure that area, we'd be able to hunker down until Sederis could get us off station. Fuck, cargo shuttles landed at the slave market every hour, we could just leave from there.

" _Reyja'krem, it's Rane._ " My lover's voice cut into the channel. " _I can't get within a block of the Blades, the Blood Pack is attacking anything that moves."_

"Red is on the channel, she's updating us."

Said Turian wasted no time in speaking up. " _Are my people there? We can't get a hold of the upper Tuhi teams."_

 _"They are._ " The snap-roar of a sniper rifle split her words. " _We've set up a barricade to block them from getting into Fumi. They're trying to raise the hotel near Ironhold, we need reinforcements if we're going to push them back."_

_"I'm routing them you way now. Kean, your location?"_

"Still airborne, we'll be landing at the markets in..." Voya held up a pair of fingers. "...two minutes. Rane, were you able to contact Tris?"

" _No, someone's jamming that area. I had to fall back nearly a block just to call you."_

Shit. "Red, tell me you have people in the markets."

" _That's Aria's turf Kean. We don't encroach."_

Athame's fucking... "Shit, all right. I'll update you as to what the fuck is going on there when we land."

" _Jarick will be relaying from this point, I have to coordinate our response."_ Before I could offer my opinion that that was a bad idea, she'd dropped from the call.

" _Stay strong, my Reyja'krem."_ Rane offered, her voice quiet. " _We'll retrieve Trisren, and then we will be done on this sandblasted station."_

"Yeah." Exhaling, I reached down and pulled my SMG off of my belt. "Stay alive Rane."

" _I would not dare disappoint my Reyja'krem by dying. I will see you soon."_

And then she was gone as well, leaving me and Voya in silence as the car hummed around us. Shit. The Blades headquarters wasn't large, but it was reinforced with only one way in and out. They could hold out for a while, but not indefinitely. And if the Blood Pack had explosives, or enough flamethrowers...

No. Stop fucking worrying. Tris could handle herself. They'd be fine. Focus on getting there and having a way to get them out.

I glanced out the window as the aircar roared down in a rapid descent, our destination coming into sight as Voya brought us down. The pad was rather chaotic, with far more aircars leaving rather than arriving. Probably fat slavers fleeing ahead of the fighting, saving their own skin while leaving their 'property' behind.

The fighting over the aircars still remaining became clearer as Voya nearly crushed several people bringing us down, the crowd practically swarming the vehicle as soon as it landed.

Growling, I shoved my door open and followed that up by shoving my gun in the face of a Batarian who looked like he was about to hurl himself into the car before I even got out. "Move!"

He probably couldn't hear me over everyone shouting that the car was _theirs_ , but I thought my weapon made my point well enough. Giving me a subservient lilt of his head, he backed away as best he could, throwing his arms out to keep himself at the front of the pack.

On the opposite side, Voya had her own method for clearing space. There was a heavy crack of her gun firing, someone yowling in high pitched agony as suddenly no one was within three meters of our ride.

Glancing over, I saw a rotund human man in an opulent suit on the ground, his fat hands clutching at his stomach as blood spread. My companion didn't look repentant in the slightest, her sniper rifle held casually in both hands as she stepped over him. And honestly... int the moment, I couldn't bring myself to care. Tris and Rane were in trouble, and the man was probably a slaver.

"Move!" This time they could hear me, and soon enough we had an avenue through the crowd. We'd taken about five steps before people seemed to swarm around us, shouting and screaming accompanying the renewed fight for the way out of the area.

Flicking my omni-tool, I tried to contact Rane to tell her that we'd landed. It made several efforts to connect before finally buzzing as the device informed me it wasn't possible. Grimacing, I tried to link to the Talons' network and got the same result.

"Shit." Whatever was causing problems had to be nearby. The Blood Pack didn't normally go for tech, but just because Krogan were brutal didn't mean they were stupid. They could have easily hired or enslaved a few engineers to setup jamming fields in the areas they were attacking. Not that we'd ever be able to find them if they were any good, fucking Omega was riddled with utility tunnels and unmapped passages even in the more heavily populated areas.

I'd just have to hope that they pulled out when we pushed the Pack away.

Things opened up once we'd left the landing pad, the pair of us racing through the markets. Slaves cowered in their cages, the less beaten down ones shouting questions as we ran past them. I couldn't bring myself to respond, or look at them more than I had to. Fuck. I'd never wanted to come back here.

Voya had a better head for the twisted three dimensional map of Omega than I did, unerringly leading me past a pair of closed exits and then around a broad corner, skidding to a stop at the bizarre tableau that greeted us.

Much like the other streets, the barricades had been raised by Aria's people. But instead of a a few token guards nervously holding their weapons, there was a good twenty people bearing the Queen's logo. The reason became clear as I looked past them, seeing a moderately sized group of Talons trying to argue their way inside.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the locals moved to block as we approached, the Asari glowering at us both. "We don't need more fucking problems, so sail on."

Something twitched in my cheek, and I didn't stop moving, my cane striking with every other step as I closed on her. "I'm here to reinforce the Talons, so get the fuck out of my way."

"Those idiots? I don't care who you are we're not letting them... woah, fucking stop!" She started to backpedal as I ignored her entirely. She was of average height for an Asari, which meant she needed several steps for every one of my own. "Sir! We've got a prob... fucking stop or I'll blast your four eyed ass!"

Her gun was pointed at me for about a second before my cane lashed upwards, sending the weapon flying from her nervous fingers. "I told you to get out of my way, maiden. I don't have the _time_."

"Hey, Highborn asshole!" My eyes flicked up and to the left as a Batarian strode forwards, his chin set to the right in pure condescension. "You just assaulted one of Aria's people."

"I knocked the weapon out of the hands of a female too young to hold it." I snapped back at him, slowing to a stop as Voya casually strolled to stand on my left. "Now why don't you open the fucking gate before the Blood Pack gets here."

The asshole actually sneered. "What does Aria care if those Krogan kill a few Talons?"

"Maybe the fact that Garm is trying to _kill_ her? What the fuck do you think is going on right now!?"

"I think you and your little friend should surrender your fucking weapons. And your armor." His eyes split between us. "We already had to close down the markets when those pathetic creatures tried to flee in here. It's costing Aria credits she'll be furious to lose... but a Highborn and a Quarian? By yourselves you might make some of it back."

I'd only ever killed one person in cold blood before. A brain damaged sex slave whose terrified expression still gave me nightmares. It... had been about the most merciful thing I could do for her.

Somehow I didn't think I'd have as many bad dreams about number two.

He didn't have time to do more than open his mouth in shock as my gun arm snapped up, my finger tightening as the Asari built weapon put a three-shot burst into his unguarded face.

Voya snapped her gun up before any of the guards could try and bring there's around, while I kept mine upright in a clear threat. "Anyone else care to insinuate that we would make good slaves?"

Shockingly, nobody did. Or maybe they were too stunned to respond. There was a lot of staring at their former leader's body as it leaked on the floor.

"About fucking time Reyja'krem!" A Turian shouted from the other side of the barricade, her voice relieved. "I thought he'd never shut up!"

Of the nineteen or so of Aria's people remaining, maybe six were Batarian. They universally flinched at my title, most of them carefully moving their hands away from their guns or holstering them entirely. That was something, but we'd still get torn apart if I didn't play the rest of this right.

"Glad I could be of service. Who's in charge here now?"

"Me." Another Asari spoke up, a shotgun held casually in her hands as she stepped forwards. "You really have that title?"

"Yes, and the Blood Pack really is trying to kill your boss. Ganar left a rant on the extranet."

She grunted, barley glancing at the cooling corpse. "I can't do shit until we confirm that, and there's barely enough of us to police the markets as it is. That idiot wouldn't send a runner to Afterlife, wanted to wait for the jamming to end. Thanks for the promotion by the way."

It was my turn to grunt, relaxing slightly as I lowered my gun. Slightly. The words were about as close to an offer of truce as I was going to get, but there was no sense in taking chances. "Not a problem. I need through the barricade, the Talons are trying to push through from Fumi."

The new leader glanced at my companion, then at the gate, then back at me. "Fine, but only you two going through. The Talons don't get to come in until I get confirmation that we're at war, and maybe not even then."

"Fine." Flicking my fingers, I used my omni-tool to cut off my external mics. "Voya, stay back-to-back until we're through."

She vanished from my peripheral vision, the back of her suit clanking quietly against the back of my armor a few moments later. In front of me, the Asari carefully backed aside as the barricade began to lower into the ground, her blue lips curled into a little smirk as Voya and I carefully moved forwards.

Nobody said anything to us, the guards standing closer to the retractable wall shouting for the Talons to stay back as it came down.

Excepting a single Turian female, her helmet tucked under one arm, they stayed well clear. And for her part she was careful not to approach until Voya and I were on the Talons side of the line and the gate was rising back up behind us.

"I don't think you remember me, but I was on Reyja'krem Ayle's team when we took the main base." She was right, I didn't, but I tilted my head politely all the same. I was pretty sure I would have if I'd seen her without her helmet, her facial markings were done up in vivid red, the sharp patterns and strangely delicate carapace making her the first Turan woman I actually found to be rather exotic.

She gave me something vaguely like a Batarian bow of respect in return as she continued. "Spirits it's good to see that we got any help at all, but I was hoping for more."

I grimaced inside my helmet. "Be glad we're here at all. Your boss has problems with other gangs trying to expand in the chaos. We're trying to get to the Silver Blades."

"The merc team you support? That's... not going to be easy sir." Turning, she waved a clawed hand towards her people. "I've got ten guns, plus me. Another nine who are too beat up to fight. The Krogan just... we didn't have any warning. They and the Vorcha just..."

"They didn't pursue you?"

"Not for long. Aria's people and a few of the market crowd shot at them when we pulled back here, that's when that asshole brought the gate up." She exhaled, mandibles flaring. "They pulled back after that. Maybe thirty minutes ago now."

Thirty minutes. Shit, it had to be nearly forty or fifty since we'd gotten the alarm. We had to fucking move.

"Right. One of my people is helping coordinate the team from Fumi, they are pushing our way but we have to support them." I glanced at the ramp that lead up, only now noticing the dead Vorcha and Talons scattered across it. "If the Blood Pack stay true to form they'll turn to hit that move head-on."

"So we hit them in the back. I'd love the plan if there was more than thirteen of us sir."

I exhaled heavily. "So would I, but my friends are out there. I'm going."

Her mandibles quivered as she turned back to her people. "I... there are still civilians up there. I joined the Talons because they believed we could make Omega better. If I stay here, cowering next to this gate, I'm not doing that. We're with you, Reyja'krem."

"All right then." Flexing my fingers, I made sure I had solid grips on both my SMG and my cane. "Get your people up and let's go."

* * *

_**Secure Communications Log** _

_**Omega – Illium RI pipeline** _

_User 1: Trena, it's Tris. I know it's the middle of the night for you, but... shit. The Blood Pack has gone insane, Ganar Yulaz declared Aria to be a whole bunch of shit that she'd love to skin him for. Their jamming everything, but the old hardline we rigged to the support team's place is still intact. We tripped that, hopefully they receive it and can warn their protectors._

_User 1: The fighting is quieting, growing more distant. We can hear them outside, doing something to the doors. Maybe trying to rig charges. If they get in... shit. I should have followed our friend's example and bought a place with utility access. Lorth says we can't try and blast out the floor to drop down a level. There's solid rock beneath us. Sideways won't help, and rock again above. We're trapped in our own home._

_User 1: They tried to blow the doors, the reinforcements held, but not by much. We've layered it with directional charges to blast it outwards when they stop working. Workbenches and furniture layered as barricades for cover. Maybe it will help._

_User 1: I'm going to destroy the link, might not have time later. The fighting is picking up again, the Talons might be pushing back. I don't know if they'll make it here in time. If they do, we'll find a way to Illium and our friend and I can tell you all about this, and a few other plans we made._

_User 1: If they don't get here... I'm sure Athame has a bar. We'll be waiting._

_Communications Failure – Secure Link Terminated._

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 7: A Demon's Rise** _

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... the chapters are getting harder to write as things start to unfold. Those of you who have read Semper Victoria might recognize some of the chapter titles, it should give you a pretty good idea of how things are going to go over the remainder of the act.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	38. Act 3: A Demon's Rise

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Demon's Rise**

Voya went on ahead to scout out what the nearby area looked like, totally ignoring me when I reminded her to keep her head down. Which showed just how focused she was, normally even saying something as mildly protective as that would have gotten me hit. Or at the very least glared at.

While she did that, I did a final round of weapons checks, only half listening as our new friend Lieutenant Kyatia drilled her people on Blood Pack fighting 101. Her voice easily carried over the distant sounds of combat, the sounds echoing and fluctuating through the station. It had been going on since we'd move through the barricade, and I was seriously praying to Athame and the Pillars that it was the Talons counter-attacking rather than the Blood Pack storming Trisren's place.

"Leave the Vorcha to the Reyja'krem and his sniper." Her voice was muffled by her helmet, the visor shifting as she swept her gaze over her people. "Only engage them if there aren't any Krogan in sight. Soon as one of those humpbacked herd-beasts shows up, concentrate all of our fire on it until it dies. Understood?"

"Ma'am." The chorus was in time enough to make me think that she'd been with them for a while. Well, that and the fact that nobody had argued when she'd told them they were going right back to the place they'd just run away from.

Collapsing my submachine gun, I swapped it out for my heavy pistol, triple-checking the new coolant mods I'd installed to give me a few shots before the primitive cannon overheated. To my right, the Turian gang officer continued to pace, continuing her reminders. "Aim for the head at all times. Both of them will regenerate damn near anything so don't waste your time with anything but killshots."

"Ma'am."

My cane looked all right, fully loaded with incinerate mines. A few flicks on my omni-tool confirmed that my tech-launcher likewise had one of the fiery explosives loaded first. Not charged, obviously I didn't want to have another one of the fucking things explode right next to me, but it would only take a finger flick and a second to get it prepped.

"We're ready to move Kean." I glanced up as Kyatia stepped over to me, a Phaeston held confidently in her hands. "I've moved the wounded into that shop over there, owner isn't around and it will give them some cover."

"Good." I let out a slow breath, then winced as something exploded in the distance. It really wasn't more than a deep _whump_ , the deck plating barely even moving beneath our feet, but even that meant a lot of fucking explosives had probably just gone off. Maybe nearby? Maybe below us...Shit. With this stupid station I wasn't even sure where it had happened. "All right, let's get to the top of the ramp and hold until Voya gets back."

"You heard him, move up!"

My helmet covered up my wince at her words. I didn't have a problem advising people in fights, Nynsi had trained me rather well at that, it was something I was comfortable with. Actually _commanding_ people I didn't actually know was something entirely different. Unfortunately the Turian woman hadn't given me a choice, and seemed to have simply assumed that Nyreen had hired me to lead the counter-attack.

So yeah. My friends in danger, people's lives riding on me, no fucking pressure.

Athame's ass I needed a vacation.

Blowing out a final long breath, I nodded tightly to myself and got my ass moving. Making my way up the ramp, I kept my eyes warily on the corpses as I stepped over them. Everything I'd heard said Vorcha could regenerate from damn near anything, and apparently it wasn't uncommon for them to get back up not long after seemingly being killed.

None of the ones I stepped over did, though a few of the Talons were appropriately paranoid, putting single shots into the heads just to be sure.

I was near the top when Voya came jogging back, her body hugging the wall before she dropped down the ramp.

"Hold up." Dropping into a crouch, I focused as the Quarian did the same, setting her gun down before tersely signing keywords at me. "We've got an open block to the main avenue. Then... a few dozen Vorcha, and two Krogan holding the intersection."

Kyatia had dropped to one knee beside me and Voya, her helmet flicking between us. "She... just said all of that?"

It had actually been closer to _open, one, block, twenty small, two big, crossroads._ I'd had to infer the rest, though a year plus of translating Ghai's clipped words into conversations, and then working with Voya had made me rather decent at filling in the blanks. "Yes. Is there any cover between us and them?"

A tight nod, followed by another gesture.

"Two thirds of the way up. Here's the plan, we get to that location, then try and draw them to us. We clear them out, then move up to the intersection and find the next killzone."

"Repeat until we make it to the Blades base, or they overwhelm us." The Turian nodded in approval. "Understood Reyja'krem. Talons! Prep for a sprint!"

Swinging my cane up, I let it rest against my shoulder and I stood back up. Bouncing on my heels once, I started moving as Kyatia motioned for her people to start moving.

The thirteen of us crested the ramp and accelerated, the cover Voya had promised proving to be a pair of trashed aircars along with a balcony that had collapsed off two-level structure. It was maybe a hundred meters ahead, and fifty more beyond that was the broad opening where this street met the level's main road.

Along with distant figures that seemed to be wandering back and forth until the watchful gaze of something that I first thought was a statue. It wasn't until the thing moved that I realized it was an armored Krogan, even at this distance the alien was so large compared to it subordinates that my brain hadn't initially processed it correctly.

Not all species are created equal when it comes to sprinting. Kyatia and her fellow Turians quickly left most of us behind, while was Voya laboring to keep up with my and the other humans' longer strides. Behind us the two Asari struggled to keep up at all, muttered cursing almost making me grin as they bitched to one another.

"Enemies!" The hissing shout removed any mirth I might have been feeling, a cracking gunshot whipping overhead as the Vorcha brought its carbine up. "They return!"

"Good!" The Krogan's booming voice nearly made me flinch. The guy was basically on the other side of a football pitch and it sounded like he was next to me. "I was getting bored!"

Ahead, the Turians had already reached the wrecked aircars, bounding behind them as their leader shouted. "Focus fire on the heavy!"

Hunching down a bit, I ground my teeth as I kept running, flashes of tracer fire whipping overhead as the steady cacophony of battle began. A few rounds skidded off of my shields as I moved right, altering my course to get to the trashed balcony.

Dropping into a soccer slide as I approached, my armor left streaks of paint and sparks as I slid behind the wonderfully thick metal and stone. Voya joined me a few moments later, her chest heaving beneath her armor and suit as she tried to catch her breath.

Grimacing, I shifted myself to one knee, rising above what had once been part of a ledge. The games apparently had one thing right, the Blood pack weren't interested in staying back. Nearly all of them were moving in our direction, firing as they came. The sole exceptions seemed to be a few Vorcha that were lurking with carbines and rifles, trying to make like snipers as they picked at the Turians on my left.

"Voya, knock off those fucking sharpshooters." Shifting my cane around, I brought my right arm in front of me and balanced the heavy stick across the back of that forearm. "I've got the close ones."

My first incinerate exploded above three Vorcha rushing towards Kyatia, the blast throwing one of them to the ground while the others screamed as they burned. More fires began to burst into existence as I swept the area in front of the Talon's makeshift fire-base, covering the rest of them as they moved up to join their comrades.

For their part, they stayed true to the plan, concentrating all of the fire on the hulking Krogan as he fired back with the almost delicate looking shotgun in his hands. One Talon went down with an annoyed shout of pain, clutching his shoulder, but that was the only damage their target managed before the combined firepower of his hunters brought him down.

"Kean, be a friend!?" Kyatia shouted as she shifted to start finishing off Vorcha I'd left to burn.

An incinerate promptly struck the collapsed Krogan, making sure that he stayed down. "Thanks!"

"Not a problem!" I shouted back, reversing which weapon I had on which wrist as I started using my pistol to conserve my mines. My companion's viper cracked rhythmically, dropping a target with nearly each shot.

The skirmish didn't last much longer, our opponents more or less just running into the intersection to be shot down rather than trying to group together to rush us. Tellingly, the second Krogan never appeared, apparently having enough intelligence to pull his leathery ass back rather than just blood raging like his friend had.

Kyatia started to motion her people to advance as the attacks slowed, a pair of Turians escorting one of the Asari forwards. "Voya, move up and cover them. And make sure there isn't anything on the right."

The Quarian nodded gamely, clambering over the rubble as I carefully stood up and shifted over towards the Lieutenant.

"Nath, Jalus, support her." Two Talons gave nods of their own before scrambling to follow her, leaving myself and the female Turian to stand behind the wrecked aircar she'd chosen. Her voice lowered as I stepped closer, trying to pitch it so it wouldn't carry. "Lucky first strike. They were busy looting, not grouped up."

"Agreed." My eyes narrowed as the Asari on the left glowed with biotic light, the rythmic _thud-thud-thud_ of a shockwave sounding as she hurled an arm around the corner. "And we might not have as good a position ahead."

"How far the Blades headquarters?"

It took my a moment to pull up the mental map in my brain. "Block and a half, they're in one of the main courtyards."

"Spirits. Kean, that area has the main side-streets. It's where we retreated from." The 'so there's going to be a fucking army there' went unsaid.

Ahead of us, the Asari flinched after a round screamed past her head. She quickly stepped back, letting one of the Turians move up to start taking potshots with his rifle as she called back to us. "I could see the entrance to the hub. There's... a lot of movement down there sir, ma'am. I got a few Vorcha that were pulling back."

I grunted. "Is there anything we could use for cover between here and there?"

Her helmet shook in the negative. "Not unless we want to try and move through the buildings."

"Suicide." Kyatia muttered it before I could, but I nodded to show that I agreed. Fighting Krogan and Vorcha in the open was one thing. The latter didn't wear armor and could be killed rapidly, so long as you had cover to operate from. In the open... they might die like the True Son kids had, but unlike those poor idiots Vorcha could actually shoot back with rather unnerving accuracy. And Krogan were... Athame, it had taken the entire squad to bring down _one_ with any sort of speed. Fighting one in an enclosed space would leave any of us just a smear on the ground.

"Voya, is there anyone the other way?" The Quarian risked sticking her head out, ducking back as she shook her head. "Anything we can use?"

Another shake, her and the Talons falling back so as to not be exposed from the other direction.

Shit. SHIT. There had to be something around here. Whipping my head around, I tried to come up with something. Anything. We could move the wrecked aircars maybe? Only two Asari made that a difficult prospect. Cars weren't light and they both had the awkward in their bodies movements of maidens, their control and stamina wouldn't be as good as it would be in a few centuries.

"Kean... I don't think we can go farther."

Go farther? We'd barely gone anywhere at all! I snapped my mouth shut before I could actually vocalize that, forcing myself to count to ten in all four of my languages before I was able to articulate myself without being a moronic asshole. "You, Asari. Did you see any signs of fighting? Any sign that they're being pushed from the other direction?"

"The walls... I couldn't, I'm sorry sir."

Goddess damn... "Lieutenant, get your people back into cover. Voya, shift left. We're going to try and piss them off."

Kyatia glanced past me, watching her people start to pull back. "I'll move up with you, I'll alternate with your sniper."

There wasn't enough time to argue, so I jerked my head in a nod, the pair of us moving up to joining my companion. While she knelt down on one knee, I leaned out above her to take a long look.

Sure enough, about a block ahead was the sprawled opening to the courtyard. The Talons had apparently attempted to raise barricades like at the markets, but they'd locked only a meter or so up. There were plenty of bodies from both sides, but even as I watched Vorcha were pulling at the corpses, scrounging equipment as numerous Krogan loomed over them from watch posts once occupied by guards.

One of them had casually brought his gun up, a long burst sending sparks off the wall and across my helmet as I jerked backwards.

"How many?"

Shaking my head a bit to clear the flashes of light, I grunted. "Six Krogan. Three high, three more lounging behind the barricade. You tried to raise it?"

"They shot the motors out with carnage rounds and grenades. High or low?"

Stepping back, I motioned for her to take my spot. "High, easier targets on those platforms. Voya, take the lead."

Her armored mask nodded, and then her rifle was snapping as she quickly started to pick away at her target. Not bothering to manage her heat, she kept yanking the trigger until the weapon refused to shoot, pulling back amidst a flurry of return fire as Kyatia moved up to take her place.

While the Turian female leaned out into the incoming shots as if she didn't notice them, I shoved my pistol on my belt before focusing on adjusting my cane's settings.

When the Talon's assualt rifle clicked in protest, I moved up to take her spot. Metallic shards promptly began to rain against my chest and arm as I leaned out, my cane held in two hands like a rifle as I triggered as quickly as the small power core could load new mines into place.

The distance and fact that I was getting battered didn't help my aim. Explosions detonated on the ground, on the wall, other streaks of orange sailed overhead to explode in the hub proper. A few were more on target, making Krogan bellow with anger and Vorcha shriek in pain.

My shields failed after perhaps fifteen or twenty seconds, forcing me to rotate with Voya as she banged my leg with her rifle's barrel.

She took over. Then Kyatia took her turn. Then me. Rinse and repeat.

But the Krogan wouldn't fucking _move_. They actually started their own rotation, shifting people with fresh armor and shields into place.

The Turian's weaker equipment gave way first, clutching at her arm on her third rotation as she hissed in pain. My own shoulder plate cracked mere moments after I moved up to take her place, the heavy shotgun round that broke it sending me spinning back as I snarled.

Hands grabbed me, one of the Asari hauling me away from the edge as another Talon took my place. She directed me to where her superior officer was already sitting and being treated, making me take a spot on the ground beside her.

"They'll lose... their tempers eventually." Kyatia spoke through ragged breaths, her head leaning back as one of her people poured medigel into her exposed forearm.

Closing my eyes, I lowered my head and tried not to grimace as the Maiden carefully inspecting my shoulder. "They... no. Stop shooting, get back from the edge."

"Sir?"

"Fall back. One of you check every thirty seconds or so." I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. "They aren't coming. And someone keep watch on the buildings."

"We have been sir." The Asari murmured, something rustling before the cold relief of medigel started to relieve the dull ache. "No sign of anything so far. No civilians, no Blood Pack moving up, nothing but empty businesses."

I don't think I'd ever really failed before. Not like this anyway. I'd failed at building things. Failed at repairing things. I'd failed rather spectacularly in a relationship.

I'd never really failed in a fight. I'd always had a plan. A way to get the objective complete, even if it didn't quite always work. It hadn't on Korlus, but we'd had a _chance_. We didn't even have that hope here. There was a hundred or so meters of open space between us and a barricaded wall manned by Krogan. Even if any of us _did_ make it that far, we had no idea how many there were beyond them. Enough that they could rotate people to take potshots at us without seeming to be bothered.

Trisren was out there. Under siege. And there wasn't anything I could fucking do about it.

Rane was out there. Fighting her way in this direction.

And I was sitting on the ground, getting a tiny little flesh wound patched up, and was thoroughly useless.

"Sir, please relax, I need to bandage this cut."

Opening my eyes, I glanced at my shoulder and tried not to snort at the small tear in my under-armor. "It's nothing. Take care of the Lieutenant."

"But... it could get infected."

"I'm-"

"Kean, shut up and let her do it." Kyatia cut me off, her voice tired. "A good officer knows when to let his subordinates handle things they're equipped to do."

I wasn't a fucking officer, but I shut up and waited for her to finish applying a tiny patch. A few moments later she had scurried back, grabbing the plate that had been shot free and pulling an omni-gel canister from her belt.

Swallowing several things I wanted to say at the sight of an amateur trying to patch my armor, I turned to my left. "Voya."

The Quarian turned to glance at me over her shoulder, shuffling over and dropping to a knee as she set her weapon down. Her freed hands rose, tiredly gesturing.

"Physically fine." The mentally not went unsaid. "We need a plan. Do you have a local map?"

She seemed to sigh, then fired up her omni-tool. But rather than a floating graph of the area, a text file opened. _Cieran, we can't fight them in utility tunnels. They like flamethrowers._

Biting my tongue, I accepted that as a bad idea and tried to find a new one. "The road to the right?"

"Leads to the food concourse above the slave markets." The Lieutenant on my right sighed. "Kean..."

Athame's fucking... Trisren was my _friend_ dammit. Yes she was a tit sometimes, and a brutal trainer, but she was brutal because she wanted us to _survive._ There had to be something we could do. Something we could improvise, something...

Shit.

The fifteen minutes that followed were some of the most miserable of my life. Kyatia eventually hauled herself to her feet, grabbing my arm to make sure I did the same. She checked on her people, making sure they'd tended to the flesh wounds they'd gotten in the skirmish. In the background the sounds of fighting continued to grow steadily, but the lookouts consistently reported that there remained a sizable Krogan presence waiting for us to try anything.

I kept trying to come up with plans for the first five minutes or so, stopping only when Voya simply pushed me against a wall, leaning her small yet solid frame against me to make it clear that she wasn't going to let me try anything stupid. She also made sure to hit me when I didn't thank the maiden for putting my shoulder plate back together quickly enough.

Around twenty minutes after we'd stopped trying to lure them out, the lookout finally reported that the Krogan were pulling back, and that tracer rounds were starting to become visible.

It took everyone a few minutes to get organized. Attaching my cane to my back, I prepped my omni-tool with one hand while keeping my pistol in the other. As soon as the Turian, I think he was Nath, nodded that we had a chance, we got moving again.

We didn't really have a plan beyond rush the barricade and use it as cover, so that was more or less what we did. Only one Krogan was even facing us, and he didn't last long. Voya skidded to a stop to hammer at his helmet, while I triggered an incinerate from my tech-launcher. The kill went to the Asari though, both of them glowing as warpfire swirled through the air before immolating the massive alien in biotic light.

It was the only real contribution that we made to the fight. By the time we made it to the barricade the Blood Pack were in full retreat, Krogan lumbering down another main avenue while Vorcha died in droves to cover their master's retreat.

A small horde of Talons and, bizarrely, the white-clad forms of T'Ravt's regulars were in full pursuit. I watched the fighting move in that direction for a few moments, then wordlessly vaulted the barricade.

"Follow the Reyja'krem, we'll get orders from whoever is in command after we know the Blades are secure." Kyatia barked, easily clearing the wall and moving to join me. "Execute any wounded Vorcha, but leave Krogan alive for questioning."

"Um... how ma'am?"

"Shot their arms and legs." I spoke up, not bothering to look back. "And keep their weapons away from them."

"Sir."

Mercenaries and the warlord's troops called out to us as we moved past, but I didn't respond. They didn't matter.

The ruined wall that I could see even from here was all that mattered. Someone, I think it was Voya, pulled my cane off of my back and shoved it into my hands.

I didn't really remember limping across the hub, or pushing my way past soldiers who weren't quick enough to get out of my way. Kyatia and Voya had to tell me about that later.

They'd used explosives to blast their way in. Or maybe the Blades had tried to blast their way out, it was hard to tell. Pretty much the entire front of their home had been blasted apart, a normal sized doorway replaced by something the size of a garage door.

It was carpeted in dead Vorcha and pieces of the same. Many were badly singed, either killed by the initial explosions or from flamethrower packs detonating. Maybe even incinerates. Here and there were the massive forms of dead Krogan, orange blood covering their broken armor and bodies.

Stepping over and around them, I could only stare at the interior.

A single person was there, sitting with her head in her hands on a couch that was more blood and viscera than furniture.

"Rane."

"Reyja... Cieran." She let her hands drop, her head drooped listlessly to the left. "You're... Pillars. It's..."

"Tris?"

All four of her eyes shifted away. "She and Dorvahn... are in their room. They blew the link before... before."

Something... broke inside of my head. I don't know what it was, but I felt it snapping in the back of my skull. My cane struck the ground with far more force than was necessary as I moved, walking past where she was sitting to the room in question.

Stepping through the melted and shattered workbench that they'd dragged in front of the door to use as cover, I forced myself to look inside.

"Cieran...?"

Red flashed across my vision as I turned away, my right leg snapping out to viciously kick an already broken chair. Wood cracked when the thing hit the wall behind it, my throat tearing as I snarled. Moving after it, I was fully intending on smashing the fucking thing into goddess-damned _splinters_ before Rane moved in front of me.

"Reyja'krem!"

"What!?" I snapped furiously. "What the fuck does it matter Rane!?"

She sucked in a breath, forcing herself to remain tall. "Reyja'krem. It's a chair. It did not kill them."

I stared at her through my helmet, the words only slowly making their way through the rage. When they finally did, I nodded tightly and then turned to my other companion. She'd apparently followed me in, though the Talons were remaining outside. "Voya! Are any of those Krogan still breathing?"

The Quarian blinked, then nodded and turned away, picking through the corpses.

"Cieran..."

Wrapping both of my hands around my cane, I stomped it in front of me and leaned on it as I tried to breath. "Rane... go ahead. I'm sorry for my outburst."

"I understand." The lowborn very carefully stepped forwards, an armored hand rising to press against my chest. "I'm glad you're all right, my Reyja'krem."

"I'm glad you are too, my Rane'li." Still breathing slowly, I leaned forwards until our mouths met in a soft kiss. It lasted a moment, no longer, and then we were stepping back from one another. "How long have you been here?"

"A few minutes before you arrived." The lowborn exhaled heavily. "The Talons pressed them to the main ramp, but couldn't advance farther. I.. don't know why T'Ravt's people showed up, but they started landing on shuttle and aircar pads around Fumi and Tuhi before joining the fighting. They had enough Asari to tear through the Vorcha with biotics alone, leaving everyone else to focus on the Krogan."

She paused, clearly expecting me to tell her what had happened on my end of the fighting.

Heh. Fighting.

There was a snapping sound behind me, both of us turning as Voya snapped her fingers again and pointed at a Krogan half buried by Vorcha with the other.

A survivor.

Good.

"Kyatia! We've got a live one. If you could help us get those bodies off of him?"

The Turian female had turned around from where she was standing like a guard, but nodded as she saw who the Quarian was pointed at. A minute later had her two Asari subordinates using their minds to hurl the dead bodies away, leaving a groaning Krogan to weakly flail an arm as he tried to process what was happening.

"Reyja'krem... what do you intend to do?" Rane asked quietly as we watched the Talons carefully kick his weapons away, the Asari standing ready to pummel him as the others yanked at his helmet.

"From what I remember, the Pillars have a few things to say about people who kill the companions of a Harath'krem or Reyja'krem." My breath whistled through my teeth. "I can't think of any that are pleasant."

There was a few moments of silence before she replied, her voice perfectly level. "Neither can I."

"You aren't going to stop me?"

"They were my friends as well, my Reyja'krem. And I am not Illyan." She let out an angry hiss of her own. "And I am a faithful Batarian, exiled or not. The Pillar of Heart dictates when and where mercy should be shown. I don't believe any of its lines apply to those who have killed our friends."

My lips curled at the edges. "Me either."

"What are you going to do?"

"I am going to ask him questions."

"And then?"

I merely smiled a vicious little smile inside of my helmet, stepping forwards once the Krogan's helmet was free and the Talons had backed away. "Can you hear me?"

His native language was little more than a deep rumble, something like grunts connected occasionally by vowels. My translator smoothly overlaid it in my ear, turning that into something I could understand. "Why am I alive, four eyes?"

"To answer questions. Why did you attack this place?"

"They affronted the Pack, the true followers of Emperor Ganar Yulaz." Emperor? Goddess, someone had quite the ego. "They accepted money from the courtesan whore who fancies herself powerful. Soon all of your kind will know the penalty for doing so."

So they were going after everyone T'Ravt had hired. Not surprising. "Garm order that? Or Ganar?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really, no. You know anything else interesting?"

He snorted heavily, his labored breath almost gusting out. "Get it over with."

"As you wish. Voya?" The Quarian blinked confusedly at me. "Have you ever taken a Krogan's plate off?"

Silver eyes blinked a few more times, then curled as her mask hid her grin.

"A Krogan's... my pla..." Our wounded prey tried to thrash, his eyes focusing entirely on the petite Quarian as she slowly walked towards him. Her hands dropped to her sides, knives sliding free from her belt as she cocked her head, visibly considering the best way to proceed.

In any other situation it would have been almost comical. Even barely breathing and collapsed the Krogan dwarfed her.

In this situation? He tried to hit her. Tried to bite her. Tried to crawl away. The screaming really got started when she started working her blades around. Either she couldn't find the right angle to start prying, or she was just enjoying the sounds he was making.

I didn't look away. Neither did Rane.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 8: A Demon's Path** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. The breaking has begun. And when you break, people can change you. Places can change you. Cieran is definitely broken right now, but this time he doesn't have Illyan or Trena or Nynsi to help him step back from the edge.
> 
> Starting next chapter the Author's Notes will be expanded to include some of the thoughts I've had over the series, much like the last ones in AR: Arrival did, as well as some of the plans I have going forwards.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	39. Act 3: A Demon's Path

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 8: A Demon's Path**

"God-Emperor will kill you!" The Vorcha hissed and spat at my feet. "All will burn!"

"Heard it, bored of it." I quipped back, not bothering to wait for a response before putting a round through the alien's skull. And another into its chest just to make sure. "Done over here. Rane?"

"Here as well, my Reyja'krem." My lover called back, her rifle collapsing as she and Voya stepped away from a dead Krogan. "The rest have pulled back."

"Another raid. Wish I was surprised." Exhaling, I shook my head as a wave of tiredness washed over me. "Kyatia? Your people make it through all right?"

"Nath injured his shoulder. _Again!_ " The Talon Lieutenant snapped at a cringing Turian male. "But apart from that we made it through. Thanks again for the assist Kean."

Shrugging in the Asari way, I stepped away from where we'd helped her squad deal with yet another Blood Pack raid into upper Fumi. The tiered district was one of the few that Garm's groups had never really been able to blast their way into, but it wasn't stopping them from trying every once and a while.

"We were over in Tuhi anyway, Ayle wanted some extra guns to deal with a group holding out in... what was that store supposed to be?"

It was Rane's turn to shrug a little. "I think it was a clothing store, my Reyja'krem, but it was rather hard to tell with everything on fire."

"Well, either way I'm glad that you three are still willing to help." Kyatia gave me a polite bow of her head. "It's been... a difficult two weeks."

"Yeah." Shit. The slight rush I'd gotten from the fight was definitely fading, as it always did. The satisfaction from killing the things that had killed my friends remained a frustratingly temporary thing. But the alternative was to _not_ do so, and let the dark tides rise back up until I couldn't think about anything but my failure. "We'll call it into base for you, focus on your people. And you should probably seal those utility tunnels."

"Thank you, and agreed."

Tilting my head respectfully to a woman who still seemed to consider herself my subordinate for Athame knew what reason, I turned away and wandered over to the street's ledge. A few finger flicks on my omni-tool brought up the appropriate channel, and one of the most surprising things that the new war had revealed.

"Jarick, you there? We're finished here. Lieutenant Kyatia is sealing the routes they used to get in."

" _Thank you for the update sir."_ The kid sounded exhausted, but then again so did I. Fuck, pretty much everyone was. " _I don't have any more missions for you, things have quieted down over the last few hours."_

"What about that mess over in Kima?"

" _The White Tigers are moving in to support the teams there, and you know how they feel about... yourself and Miss Rane."_ When I grunted darkly, he sighed and continued on. " _Apart from that there's a few firefights, as always, but nothing that wouldn't be completed before you could get there sir."_

Wishing I could rub at my temples, I settled for shaking my head and looking down, seeing the stepped city sprawling beneath me. I believed the kid, he'd proven to be extremely competent at control and direction since Nyreen had thrust him into the position. Naturally he'd compared it to cooking, saying it wasn't that different from having to multi-task in a kitchen, prioritizing what food was nearest to being ruined.

Rane had managed to make me smile by teasing him about that comparison when she'd heard it, asking him just what else he compared to cooking. The poor kid had turned bright red and had nearly run into the door he'd retreated so quickly.

"All right. Any news then?"

" _I do have a few messages for you, but the senders said to wait until you were done in the field."_ There was a moment of hesitation. " _The first was from Reyja'krem Ayle. She wishes to inform you that Reyja'krem Shyeel has finally arrived, and that Reyja'krem Thul has returned from his job in Zeta district."_

"I'll stop by her place then. What were the others?"

" _A very nice person said she represented the Lady Warlord, she also wants to talk when you have a moment. The last was... from a less nice Asari, who said you know who you need to call."_

I did. Fucking lovely. "Thanks Jarick."

" _You're welcome sir. Sir... Kean. If I can ask, are you doing all right?"_

One of my fingers twitched slightly. "I'm still alive. How's Alicia?"

" _Still on guard duty outside of the main base, thank god."_ Jarick paused for a few moments, as if hoping that I might say more. When I didn't, he gently moved on. " _Should I tell Miss Red that you'll be returning today?"_

"Not today. We'll stay with Ayle, then stop by tomorrow to resupply."

" _I'll make sure to direct the kitchens for a proper breakfast then. And I'll see if Miss Red can spare an aircar for you in the morning sir."_

My lips twitched a little. "I"m not your boss anymore Jarick."

_"Miss Illyan isn't here to take care of your sir, someone has to."_

I couldn't stop from snorting. "See you tomorrow kid."

" _See you tomorrow sir."_

Cutting the line, I spent a few moments breathing, mentally psyching myself up for the next call I needed to make. Right, no point in delaying, she was probably already annoyed. Better to suck it up, get it over with, then head over to Ayle's place and raid her bar. We could deal with T'Ravt in the morning before we returned to the Talon's headquarters.

She at least, was patient. Unlike the person I was currently calling.

A few moments later that statement was entirely proved to be true. " _Kean. About goddess-damned time."_

"I was occupied killing things." I replied tersely... but respectfully. "I'd have responded if you'd called me directly, I've done so before."

" _I'd rather not have to explain to Gears that I got you killed by distracting you in the middle of a firefight. She's already bitching me out for not letting her come here."_

"Tell her to shut up and take care of Ghai."

" _I did. Her time is getting close, Gears needs to just shut her fucking mouth and be a bondmate."_ The leader of the Eclipse and I shared a silent moment of mutual irritation with Trena T'laria, which was the thing we honestly seemed to agree the most about. Well, that and believing revenge to be a perfectly acceptable occupation.

After... after we'd found Trisren and the rest of the Blades, we'd more or less thrown ourselves into the fighting. There hadn't been any shortage of conflicts that could use a few extra guns, and Nyreen had quickly agreed to pay us for reinforcing her people. Not that well, the Talons' weren't rolling in wealth, but more importantly she had given us full access to her supplies so that Rane and I could replace our tech mines.

Ayle had contacted me around day four, she'd worked out a similar deal with T'Ravt for far better pay. She still intended to head to Illium as per our plan, it was just going to be delayed until the Blood Pack on Omega had been dealt with. A few quick calls later had gotten me involved with the Lady Warlord, once again. I prioritized the Talon's missions, but got bonus pay from T'Ravt for reinforcing Ayle and her team when we had the time.

For her part, Sederis had finally tracked me down on day five. She'd been far more understanding than I'd initially expected, and had berated me for daring to be surprised that she was fine with me hunting the people who'd killed my friends. While she did want what was in my head, the Asari Warlord wasn't about to make waves about someone else going on a revenge run. The Eclipse's mistress was far more annoyed that I hadn't been keeping her updated with intelligence on how the fighting was going.

" _How many runs today?"_

"Just finished up the fifth. Fumi and Tuhi are secure, for the moment. They tried to get to the markets again in the latter, tried to use utility hatches to get flamethrower armed Vorcha into the former."

" _Just looking to cause chaos then."_ She mused darkly. " _How are they getting out of Kima?"_

"Probably the unmapped tunnels. Goddess knows there's enough of them down in the lower reaches."

There was a grumbling, angry noise. " _I fucking hate this station. Aria should have sealed everything below deck fifty centuries ago."_

"Not disagreeing. Athame knows I'm not going into those tunnels."

" _Even if Garm went down there?"_

"It's easier to avenge my friends when I can still breathe. Hard to do that if a Krogan has ripped my spine out."

She seemed to snort, her good cheer restored. " _They'd be more likely to use your skull as a cup."_

"Probably." Cracking my neck, I let my eyes flick back up to watch the traffic streaming through the core as if there wasn't a war on. "Were you able to get a timetable out of Aria?"

" _Not that it's any concern of yours, but yes. Did you want in on the kill?"_

I shrugged, not that she could see it. "I wouldn't mind seeing the asshole who ordered all of this dead before we leave."

" _Aria isn't going to move against him until she secures the upper decks, shouldn't be more than a few days."_ It was easy to picture her grin. _"After that... she and I are going to remind that fucker just what it means to piss us off."_

"If you could get us decent seats to that show, I'd appreciate it."

Sederis chuckled, the sound enough to make me tense even if she wasn't anywhere near me. " _Close enough to feel the blood, or just in eyesight?"_

"Not picky."

" _I'll see what I can do. Remember to keep me updated human, I'll bitch out Gears for the both of us and get back to you when the push against Garm's base begins."_

The line cut out without another word, making me nearly sag in relief. It was... a little distressing that I'd begun to realize that the best way to get through a conversation with Sederis was to throw in pointless banter every few moments. Then again, it had given me something to think about besides what had happened to Trisren and Dorvahn over the last couple of weeks.

It was... shit. It was _sad_. Athame's ass it really was depressing from my point of view. Here was Jona Sederis, ruler of a PMC, one of the most powerful beings in the Terminus, probably one of the most kick-ass fighters in the entire goddess-damned galaxy.

And she was so fucked up that she bantered with a human so far below her level I might as well have been an insect.

I mean.. shit. Apart from her direct subordinates up at the top of the Eclipse, and her mansion's staff, Trena and I were probably the only people she could talk with as if she was a normal person. Everyone else got the fake-insanity that was perilously close to actual psychopathy, or else were watched at all times for the slightest hint of betrayal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not describing her as a good person on the inside. Jona Sederis was still an unstable, cruel, and very ruthless bitch. But she was a _lonely_ bitch who'd spent most of the last century as little more than a raging nutcase who didn't have control of her own emotions.

Sighing, I turned around to find Rane and Voya waiting a polite distance away, the former reading something on the latter's omni-tool as they passed the time.

"You two ready to go?"

They were, and the three of us made our way to the nearest taxi pad. Perhaps ten minutes later the three of us were sprawled inside one of the vehicles, Voya stretching sideways across the backseats, as the car lazily followed the programmed course.

My lover fiddled with her omni-tool for a few moments, making sure nothing in the vehicle was recording us before she spoke up. "Is she still approving that we are here?"

"Yeah. She's going to see about arranging a role for us in the push on Garm's base." Leaning back, I felt the back of my helmet hit the headrest before the cushions prevented it from going any further. "It'll still be a few days, Aria wants to secure the VIP docks first."

"Logical." Rane mused quietly. "All of her wealth comes from trade through that region."

"Still leaves us with time." I brought her up to speed on what I'd planned out for the next day or so. "Once we're resupplied we'll see what Jarick can give us for missions."

"Assuming that there are any." She reminded me. "The Pack are increasingly becoming cornered, my Reyja'krem. There aren't many raiding parties breaking loose anymore."

My lips twisted inside of my helmet. "Then we support Ayle. If her team is taking a rest period... we come up with something."

The lowborn hesitated for a moment before she offered quiet advice. "Perhaps we should rest for a day."

Resting meant not doing anything. Not doing anything meant thinking about what happened. "Rane..."

"It's been a while since we refurbished our equipment, entirely I mean. We could spend the time working, just not... in the field."

I... shit. That wouldn't exactly be mentally stimulating but it might keep me occupied. And it was clear that she thought a break was required. Twisting myself around, I glanced back at Voya. "What do you think?"

The Quarian shrugged unhelpfully, waggling a hand to show that she didn't care either way.

"Reyja... Cieran. You've been going non-stop for two local weeks. You're leaning on your cane whenever you don't think I'm looking. Our armor is more omnigel than plating at this point." The last was an exaggeration, but not as much of one as I would have liked. "One day. Please."

I didn't like saying no to Rane in the best of times, but when she broke out both my actual name and said please in that begging tone...

"All right, you win. Tomorrow will be a maintenance day, you can message Jarick, I'm sure he'll want to know we'll be on base for more than a few hours."

She did so, then murmured a few of the things she thought her armor needed. Knowing that she was trying to keep my mind occupied didn't stop it from working, and I let out a long breath before wondering out loud how long it would take to rebuild the shoulder-plate that I still hadn't properly fixed. Behind us, our companion's eyes winked out as she appeared content to rest them, leaving Rane and I to our discussion for the half-hour trip.

From Omega' core, the taxi entered one of the 'spirals' that corkscrewed downwards, moving with the spare traffic descending deeper into the station. Even before the war, and that seemed to be very much what it was becoming, there hadn't been much aerial traffic down to Gozu, Kima, and the other 'low' districts. I mean, shit. I'd seen things that were dark by Omega's standards in the bowels of Fumi before the Talons had started to work at improving the area around their new fortress.

The place we were going was even lower than those dark alleys. Few people with the money to fly ever went down to those areas. There weren't even accurate _maps_ of Kima. Gozu was sligthly better, more or less the pillar of civilization in Omega's depths, which wasn't saying much. The Blue Suns and Blood Pack had used and abused the area, and the True Sons had continued that theme after their takeover. Time would tell if T'Ravt could improve it, but for now... I'd never left the shelter of her main operations area. And I didn't intend to.

Our aircar eventually began its approach to a landing pad that was little more than a hole in the ground, its engine whining as it lowered us into the poorly lit area. The Warlord's troops stood out against the darkness in their off-white armor, a pair of them advancing as the vehicle settled.

"This area is restrict... ah, it's you three." The fellow human who'd been about to tell us off relaxed as I climbed out of the car, the translator in my ear buzzing at it shifted his native language to Thessian standard. "How are the upper reaches?"

I rather liked Oshiro Gorou. He was relentlessly cheerful for a guy stuck guarding a landing pad while his broken arm healed up. He'd also never once given me shit for speaking alien languages, or openly being affectionate with Rane. Of course, he'd also tried to hit on both her and Voya, so I thought it was more that he didn't really care what species his current one-night stand was.

And watching Voya kick him in the groin while his subordinates had howled with laughter had been entirely too amusing.

"More raids, what else is fucking new." I replied to his Japanese with my Illium flavored Thessian, which always seemed to amuse him. "How are the lowers?"

"A few hotheads tried to sneak in, apparently some Krogan dared them to try." He chuckled when I snorted in derision. "I know right? They didn't last long. You off to see your fellow Ronin?."

"Why else would I come down here?"

"To allow my humble gaze to fall on your tantalizing companions?"

Voya's eyes narrowed behind her mask in a way that was easy to translate. "Gorou, if you make another comment about Voya's ass she's going to break your other arm. Or just re-break the other one."

He seemed to wince, probably remembering the last time she _had_ re-broken his cast limb. "I do recall promising to not be verbally or physically appreciative of Miss Voya'chi's body without her future permission."

The Quarian sniffed in approval, while I could only snort as Rane stifled a chuckle. If there was one good thing to come out of the last two weeks, it was to be reminded that Voya could be incredibly amusing just by being herself. Provided that I made sure to step in before she actually killed our allies, anyway.

In hindsight, the fact that I enjoyed watching the petite alien beat the crap out of people was probably a bad sign.

"Voya, come on. You can scare him some more later."

I let the two of them move on ahead, making sure to stay between them and T'Ravt's lieutenant. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, pointedly not letting his eyes wander even slightly as they moved past.

"Seriously, they're in armor right now."

"And yet you have never heard me complain that you routinely see them out of it, a sight I am not allowed."

"Spirits," One of his subordinates chuckled, the Turian's mandibles splaying wide. "You bitch about that daily, when you aren't morose that Hashena turned you down for the thousandth time."

Snorting, I waved vaguely at the pair of them as I walked past, following my friends as they and the other guards started what sounded like a routine debate over which waitress at the local bar was the most attractive.

The three of us moved down a short tunnel before emerging in a dirty, battered courtyard. Workers were doing what they could to clean the place up, splicing new lighting in, getting rid of graffiti, but it didn't look like they'd be done anytime soon.

Shuffling past and around them, Rane and I quietly greeted the ones who recognized us from our prior trips, repeating the same answers as to how the fighting in the upper districts was going. A few minutes of walking brought us to a small, unmarked door set flat in a wall. Not bothering to knock, I thumbed the pass-code before politely stepping aside for my female companions to enter first.

Voya rolled her eyes and made sure to elbow me as she moved past, while Rane dipped her head in amused thanks.

"The most wanted man in the Hegemony returns." An deep, amused voice made me groan as I stepped in after them, hitting the door behind me. "Welcome back, Reyja'krem."

"Ayle." My voice rose to make sure she could hear me, wherever she was. "Tell Hesh to shut up before I shoot him."

The, relatively, slender Batarian male merely barked out a laugh from where he was reclining on a couch in light plate. "Sorry Kean, my Reyja'krem is out retrieving our new arrival."

Lovely. Reaching up, I yanked my helmet off, letting Rane take it as I shook my matted hair loose.

The house we'd stepped into was massive by Omega's standards, and had probably belonged to some upper crust member of the Blue Suns back when they'd controlled the place. The living room was slightly sunken, Voya already descending the short steps from the entryway and strolling past where the member of Ayle's cadre was relaxing. Instead of turning down the hallway that lead to the bedrooms and a stairwell, she continued on into the mixed kitchen and bar.

While she dug around for a bottle of purified water, I made sure we still had a place to sleep. "Our room still open?"

"It is." Hesh shrugged, his lower eyes already back on the flatscreen and the newscaster describing the day's fighting. "We're putting the Asari and her freelancers upstairs with our Tarath'shan."

I grunted as I headed towards the hallway, Rane following in my wake. "You know when she'll be back?"

"Not more than an hour or so."

More than enough time to shower then.

The pair of us turned right, then went through the first door on our left. The smallish bedroom was just as we'd left it, the single bed shoved into a corner to make room for the equipment wracks hastily bolted into the wall. A tiny door in the far corner led to the equally closed in bathroom. A far cry from our large quarters at the Talon's base, or what we'd had in Ironhold.

But it was a relatively safe place to sleep and recover, and that mattered more than comfort.

We took turns getting clean, mostly because of the fact that there wasn't enough space for us both in there. Once we were done showering, it was back into our armor, which made the fact that we'd just gotten clean rather pointless.

Paranoia is a cruel mistress sometimes.

The only concession we made to being in 'friendly' territory was to leave our heavier equipment behind, keeping only our pistols on our belts as we headed back out. Well... there may or may not have been a few moments where I had Rane pressed up against the wall as we made out, the frenzied kisses the closest we'd gotten to being intimate since this mess had started.

A new voice boomed at us when we finally did emerge, dressed and at least partially calmed down. "My fellow Reyja'krem! Good to see that you still breathe!"

I wasn't for a few moments after Thul ul Aldaara slapped me on the back. Wearing armor or not, the guy was built like a fucking tank and I very much was not.

"Thul." I coughed out his name. "Same."

The former member of the Artisan caste gave me a broad grin to reveal his sharp teeth, copper toned skin that was quite similar to Rane's crinkling as he did. "And how goes your own mission? The Pillar of Strength surely still supports your worthy endeavor."

"It's... going well." I needed another gasp to find my lungs and put them back into place, exhaling heavily again to even things out.

Thul was... an interesting guy. He'd been a very influential midcaste Priest before his exile, being named Harath'krem for his devotion to ideology by a Highborn looking to exploit his fervor. When Thul had quite adamantly refused to change his interpretation of the Pillars, or to exploit the lowborn for his Tarath'shan's benefit, he'd been exiled. Dumped on Xentha, he'd grabbed a gun as a means of income, but had never stopped proselytizing, eventually finding himself with a cadre of exiles as faithful as he was.

And then the SIU had killed all of them.

"Excellent. And I see Rane'li ul Ben'mass is healthy as well, I trust she still serves her Reyja'krem with honor."

Rane gave him an extremely polite nod, only a shade or two shallower than she would have for myself. "Reyja'krem Thul. He is taking tomorrow away from battle to recuperate, and repair his arms and armor."

"At your urging no doubt." He rumbled, stepping a bit aside so that we could actually move out into the apartment proper. "Kean, the Pillar of Heart may cry for vengeance, but you will accomplish little if you are too tired to walk properly."

I could only groan, feet carrying me past him. "I hear enough of that from Rane, Thul. And seriously, we've known each other for what? A week?"

"Nine days." He supplied, easily matching my slow pace as I headed to join Voya at the kitchen table.

"And you're already lecturing me like we've known each other for years."

"It is my duty to impart my wisdom to others, the time we have known one another is irrelevant."

Groaning again, I collapsed into a chair and accepted the cup that the Quarian shoved in front of me, sipping her own drink through a straw in her armored mask.

Arguing with Thul was useless. The first time we'd met he'd spent more than an hour expanding on how, despite my species, I was apparently worthy of the title I held. And he'd ignored every attempt I'd made to change the topic or escape the conversation. Once he'd finished with me, he'd moved onto Ayle, who's enjoyment at my misery had vanished almost the second he'd begun discussing whether or not some of her past actions had properly followed the guidance of the Pillar of Kin.

Sipping the tea Voya had made me, and making sure to quietly thank her for reinforcing it a bit, I tuned the world out and tried to relax as Rane took the chair on my left. One of her hands carefully placed a pipe with a bag of chehala in front of me, earning her a soft kiss on the cheek that made her flush a little when Thul guffawed.

He mercifully didn't tease either of us, instead content to wander off to make his own drink while I worked my way through the prep to start smoking.

The vanilla flavored smoke and mild alcoholic content of my drink soon had me far more relaxed than I had been before we'd gotten here. The bruises and cuts hidden beneath my armor weren't bothering me nearly as much, even if I knew I'd certainly feel them in the morning.

Rane and Voya returned to their omni-tools, apparently conversing silently while Hesh continued to watch the news in the living room. Thul eventually joined us at the table, but elected to show mercy and update me as to how his own missions had gone rather than ask about how I was doing. Like Ayle he was more or less working for T'Ravt, though on a far more informal basis.

He was describing how the squad he'd been with had managed to ambush an overconfident pair of Krogan when the front door opened to admit the remainder of our little conspiracy.

My hand eased off my gun as I recognized Ayle in the lead, closely followed by the other member of her cadre. Behind them trailed an Asari of average height and build, her armor a chaotic mess of scavenged pieces and parts. The shotgun in her hands was equally as battered, but looked functional enough.

"I see Kean is here already." Ayle removed her helmet with a hand, "Good. Hesh, Ullak."

Both members of her cadre gave her deep bows, then the two males were slipping past them, standing guard outside to make sure we weren't interrupted by any of T'Ravt's people. Not that we really expected them to sell us out to the Hegemony or anything, but better safe than betrayed and dead.

"This is Cieran Kean?" The Asari, who had to be Reyja'krem Shyeel T'Voth, didn't sound terribly impressed as she slowly holstered her weapon before reaching up to remove her own headgear. "The human with a higher bounty than me? You look like just another long furred drifter to me."

Snorting out a cloud of smoke, I rolled a shoulder as I spoke in Highborn, not bothering to offer her a respectful nod. "Says the woman wearing driftwood and calling it armor."

From the way her lips were thinned as they came into sight, the return fire wasn't appreciated. Which sucked for... woah.

My eyes widened as the rest of her face came into view. She had a plain face with dark tattoos contrasting with light blue skin, but all of that was secondary to the brand burned into her right cheek. It was all harsh, jagged lines, the burns scarring most of that side of her face, but still left the sigil itself prominently visible.

"Regicide." Thul rumbled across from me, his head shaking in disgust. "A crime you are innocent of, the true crime was to punish you in such a fashion."

The Asari flicked her eyes his way, entirely ignoring the polite dip of his head. "I don't recall asking you for your opinion."

"Shyeel." Ayle cut in, her voice testy. "That is Thul ul Aldaara. Cieran Kean is obviously the human."

There was a grunt. "You expect this lot to fight the SIU?"

"My team already killed two, at least." I tried to keep my own irritation from swelling back up. "Ayle got one."

"Standards must be slipping then." She snorted. "Fine, the pay is sufficient."

Thul's lips twisted, his lower eyes finding mine before I shook my head minutely and took a fortifying drink of my spiked tea. We remained seated as the two new arrivals moved over, taking their own. I don't think any of us missed the way the Asari pulled her chair a bit away from the table before sitting.

"Let's get this over with then. I'm sick of being hunted." The Asari grunted again. "The faster those assholes are face down in the surf, the faster I can get to higher paying jobs."

I took a long pull on my pipe before speaking. "Plan is simple. Once the Blood Pack is finished on station we're withdrawing to Illium. Ayle and Thul are taking jobs with Nynsi Shaaryak, you can do the same."

"I doubt I will."

"Then you can simply insert yourself on planet covertly." Ayle drummed her fingers slowly on the table. "Cieran has contacts with both the Eclipse and Illium Security which will alert us to the SIU's presence on planet. Between ourselves, those organizations, and Matriarch Shaaryak's security planning an ambush at an appropriate time and place should be simple."

"Nothing is simple with those fuckers." Shyeel shook her head. "I need something more concrete."

I felt my eyes narrow into a glare. "Ideal situation is we lure them against Shaaryak's mansion. Since they probably won't be that stupid, the Industrial Zone would be sufficient."

Thul leaned onto the table, dipping his head respectfully and seeming to appreciate it when I did the same. "You know the territory?"

"We fought the True Sons there. Shaaryak can manufacture a reason for the pair of you to be there and exposed. Then my team, Shyeel, and whatever forces we can con or buy show up and kill them."

The scarred woman considered that for a few moments before nodding. "Better. I've got two freelancers, humans. One's a biotic, they're out getting their sand right now, but they're vicious in a fight. They'll need cuts of the pay."

"Take it out of yours." Ayle's tone didn't brook argument. "Cieran is doing the same for his people."

Blue lips curled, her eyes flicking to Rane and then Voya, neither of whom did more than glare back at her. "Fine. Where are we staying?"

"Wherever you can find." The normally relaxed woman seemed at the end of her proverbial tether, and I couldn't help but be bemused. So much for them staying here apparently.

"You are not giving me much incentive to be part of this venture."

"You have given me less to include you." Ayle needed a long breath to continue, her voice low and rough. "You were far more amicable when I contacted you prior to the war. I am unsure of what changed or if that was merely a false reflection in the desert glass."

If the Asari's lips could thin any further they'd vanish, her chair skidding as she stood. "I expect to be contacted when it is time to leave this station."

And then she was stomping away, pulling her helmet back on before vanishing out of the front door.

"Don't count on it bitch." I muttered, finishing off my drink and then leaning back in my chair. "Ayle, what the fuck was that?"

She flinched a little, ducking her head in shame. "As I said, she was far more amicable six weeks ago."

"Something must have happened." Thul mused quietly, waving some of my smoke out of his face. "Kean, must you?"

"I want to sleep tonight. And it's just chehala."

Sighing, he continued on. "Something dark must have happened to her. I know many people from here to Xentha, I shall make inquiries."

"If I may, Reyja'krem?" Rane spoke quietly, ducking her head politely when Thul waved for her to go on. "What about the freelancers she hired?"

"Nice guy and total bitch respectively." The female Reyja'krem shrugged. "Though her tattoos were interesting, I have no desire to spend more time with her than required, but I don't believe that they are doing anything to Shyeel to affect her. Her messages insinuated she has been working with them over most of the last year."

Bringing my other hand up, I carefully extinguished my pipe before shaking my head. "I'm discounting them as realistic support right now Ayle."

"I am not." Most of us blinked in surprise, excepting Voya who didn't seem to be paying much attention, when Thul spoke up. "I will speak with her."

"Thul... I believe in the wisdom of the Pillars," Ayle tried to reason with him, "But I don't think that's what she'll want to hear."

"Then perhaps you do not know them as well as I." He gave us both a confident grin. "I will restore her attitude."

"...and on that suicidal note, I'm going to sleep." Giving my equals polite nods, I rose slowly, Rane carefully placing a hand on my shoulder in case I needed it. "Ayle, we're taking tomorrow off to work on our equipment, but day after we're open."

All four of her dark eyes narrowed in thought. "An advancing patrol in Kima I believe. Thul, you'll be with us yes?"

"I shall."

I grunted as Voya stood up, stretching her back before turning to shuffle towards our room. "If the Talons don't need us we'll tag along."

We exchanged polite farewells after that, the pair of Batarian Reyja'krem shifting their attention to one another as they made their own plans for tomorrow. The conversation faded into the background as the three of us piled into the small bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind us.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 9: A Demon's Pack** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, at this point we are drawing near the end of this story. Cieran and the others have elected to remain on station until the Blood Pack there have been eliminated as their bloody tribute to the Silver Blades' memory. Things aren't still quite right in Cie's head, but he's a little more stable, if in a darker place. The other Reyja'krem have begun to arrive, we get some updates as far as the war, and things will be becoming very interesting in the future.
> 
> As another little reminder, there is a TV Tropes page for this fic. If you like, please free to check it out, maybe add a few things. If you don't have an account there I'd be happy to add things if you want to PM me.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	40. Act 3: A Demon's Pack

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Demon's Pack**

Fingers rapidly typed words onto the tablet in between us, the glowing words appearing for me to read. _I know Thul says she needs help and support, but I think we should just kill her._

"Don't tempt me." Sighing, I glared half-heartedly at the Quarian sitting across from me in the Talon's mess hall. "Seriously."

_I'm just saying it's an option. I have a sniper rifle, I could do it._

"Voya."

She rolled her eyes behind her mask, lifting her bottle of purified water and its straw with one hand, continuing to type with the other. _Fine, we'll just wait for the drug addled Asari to do something stupid and kill all of us then._

Groaning, I tossed my fork onto my plate. "Voya, seriously. I get it already. Fuck, I halfway agree with you, but Ayle and Thul say she stays informed."

To be entirely honest I more than halfway agreed with her. Not quite to the point of killing Shyeel, but I was entirely for changing our plans or diverting her to Nos Irrail when we got to Illium. I understood that everyone had to cope with crap in their own ways, but getting addicted to dust was a bit beyond what I was willing to tolerate on a woman armed with a shotgun and sniper rifle.

_I would say that I hope my ancestors will support us, but I can't imagine them agreeing to something so stupid._

"So we mitigate the damage she can do." My lips twisted to show just how much I thought that would actually help. "And be sure to tell them we told them so."

Glowing eyes rolled as she sipped water up the straw. _Because that is so reassuring._

"I'm going to hit you."

 _Sounds fun,_ Her water bottle settled on the table, long fingers yanking the knife from beside my plate before I could slap one of my hands down to stop her. _I haven't beaten you up in a while. And you'd look better with a few new scars._

Grimacing, I settled for glaring at her. "Thank you for implying that I'm ugly."

_I wouldn't call you ugly... but you are still a human. You'd look a lot better without those weird fleshy things on the side of your head._

"There's nothing wrong with my ears and I'll thank you not to cut them off."

"Especially not in the mess." A new voice cut in, a Turian woman setting her plate on my right before she kicked her odd legs over the bench and settled to sit beside me.. "Spirits. We'd never get the bloodstains out."

 _Cleaning solutions work miracles these days._ Voya spun her tablet so that the new arrival could read it.

"Kyatia." I greeted the Turian woman, and rather hoping she'd help me get off the topic. "You're still alive."

"I am." Her mandibles quivered in amusement. "Though I am unsure how much longer you will be."

 _I wasn't going to kill him._ The Quarian huffed silently. _Just maim him a little. Males don't learn if you don't hurt them._

"It does seem to be a problem with them, regardless of their species."

Giving Kyatia a look of betrayal, I followed it up with grabbing my fork and stabbing irritably at my food. "Did you have news or did you just want to help her drown me?"

"Lieutenant Stacy Bray sends her regards, though I'm pretty sure she still thinks you're insane." Her mandibles splayed wide in a Turian grin. "I believe her entire squad is still bemused over her method of paying for those upgrades."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "That was months ago."

"It isn't every year someone upgrades that many sets of armor and only wants vids in exchange."

_The selection was rather decent at least._

"Could have been better." I shrugged a shoulder. "So she's still alive then?"

"All of her people are. Apparently your upgrades were worth their... cost." Her grin seemed to subside as a serious note entered her voice, "I don't suppose you'd have the time to do the same for my people?"

I grimaced slightly. The big push on Kima was supposed to start at any time, which was why we'd spent the last day more or less holed up in the Talon's base. But we'd basically be stripping her equipment down and then putting it back together as we added extra strike plates, backup barrier nodes, things like that. You couldn't just throw it on if the alert came in the middle of the job.

Then again... it would give us something to do besides stare at the walls while we waited, and we'd already finished working on all of our equipment earlier this shift.

Voya was apparently having the same thoughts. _Maybe just the chest plating? Three done per shift, she has twelve people.._

"Eleven. We... lost Reth on our last run."

I winced. "Sorry."

"It's... war. It happens, but thank you. I know you understand after..." I flinched slightly, and her rigid mouth quivered slightly. "Apologies. Listen to me, like a peeling recruit yearning for her parent."

_Could be worse. You could be addicted to dust._

The lieutenant blinked in confusion, glancing between the pair of us. "Should I ask?"

"One of the other Reyja'krem." Taking a bit of bread, I chewed and swallowed before continuing. "We met her a few days back, she was unusually bitchy and confrontational so another one of us followed her. Found her and the freelancers she hired high out of their minds on a bar floor a few hours later."

"Spirits. Was she Batarian? I didn't think dust overly did anything for them."

"Asari." The Turian flinched. "Yeah. Goddess knows how many of her nerve endings she's fried, or how much control she has over her biotics."

"It... would depend on how long she's been on it, and how much she's consumed." She shook her head slowly. "We don't really deal the stuff but we still see people who've abused it. It's... not pretty."

"Matches what I heard." Shaking my head, I shoved what was left of my food into my mouth, leaning back as I ate. I'm sure Thul and Ayle would yell at us if they knew that we weren't exactly keeping Shyeel's addiction quiet, but I honestly just didn't give a fuck. If she didn't want us bitching about it then she should have found a different way of coping with whatever she'd lived through. And if they thought we were obligated by the Pillars to help her, they'd be free to. I'd save my energies for people I could actually tolerate.

 _Back to your armor._ Voya set her water aside, shifting both of her hands to type faster. _If we limit it to the chest and back plates only we could get a few done per shift._

Kyatia nodded slowly, finishing chewing a piece of jerky before she replied. "What would you need?"

_Access to the primary store room, or for your people to retrieve what we'll need._

"What about pay? Our personal cuts aren't... the best right now." It was understandable really. The Talons made all of their wealth on station, and the station was currently a warzone. Even in the districts that had been 'secured' people weren't exactly operating as if it was business as normal.

_What do you have?_

Swallowing, I cut in with a glare. "Voya."

 _Cieran._ The Quarian glared right back at me. _We aren't a charity, and Kyatia isn't the one giving us a place to sleep._

"Oh, did I imagine her Asari yanking out of that Krogan's path the other day?"

Her glowing eyes narrowed to slits. _That was in the middle of a fight, I saved their lives enough times with my gun._

"I can pay." Kyatia tried to speak up, only to shake her head when I ignored her entirely.

"She's still a Talon," My voice lowered as I reminded her of that little fact. "And the Talons are keeping us alive. Athame's ass it's not like we're doing anything else."

The Quarian's fists clenched before she forced them to relax. _Kyatia, can you have everything in Armory four by shift three? We'll talk about the payments then. My... employer and I need to talk in private._

She nodded slowly. "While I would obviously like the upgrades, if it's going to cause a problem-"

_It won't._

_"_ It won't."

The Lieutenant didn't quite look like she believed either of us, but promised that she and her people would be at the designated armory at the time. We'd send them to storage with a list of things we'd need after that, and everyone would pray to whatever they believed in that we'd be able to get a few things done before the call went out.

While she returned to her meal, several of her troops giving us polite nods as they finished retrieving their own trays. We didn't stay long enough to do more than that, both Voya and I more occupied with glaring at each other as we rose and departed.

I didn't say anything as we stalked through the hallways, and her arms remained irritably folded beneath her breasts as she kept pace. For a few moments I thought about going to the armory to grab Rane, she'd stayed to finish working on Glitch, before electing against the idea. Once she was done there she would probably go and get food, and I'd rather not put her off her meal.

Besides. Voya and I hadn't... talked properly in a few days.

We made it through the airlock's front door, and then through the second. Stepping away, and making sure there was a good two meters between us, I politely waited for her to remove her mask and yank her hair out of where it was tucked down the back of her suit.

The mask's absence revealed a very irate Quarian woman, her very wide eyes glaring in slits as her lips curled back.

"It's not charity." I snapped as she brought her omni-tool up. "So don't start on that."

 _I'm going to fucking start on that._ Her fingers hit the gleaming hard-light buttons with force, making them flicker as she visibly forced herself to type slowly so as to be understandable. _It is fucking charity Cieran. You're so desperate for something to do that you'll take any job in front of you. Even if it doesn't pay us anything._

"Are you lecturing me about wanting to keep a few more people alive, or about how I'm coping with losing a friend?"

 _Both!_ She actually hissed, her forked tongue briefly appearing between ivory colored teeth. _Kyatia is a decent enough ally but she's not fucking Trisren!_

"I know she fucking isn't."

 _No. You don't. You didn't turn down payment from Anastasia. And you demanded actual credits when Hetherus had us do his unit._ Fuck. I had, hadn't I? But then again Hetherus was merely tolerable to deal with. Or he had been. I had no idea if the prickly Turian was still alive or not. _Then again if he'd just waited to ask until after Trisren died you'd have probably done it for free._

My much smaller eyes narrowed at her. "If he'd been the one helping us fight, maybe. What the fuck is wrong with doing something for the group sheltering us?"

 _Because you paid for that! We paid for that! We've done ENOUGH for the Talons!_ She stomped several feet closer to me, enough that she could jab her other hand into my chest while waving her omni-tool in my face.

I think it pissed me off because I knew she was right. Somewhere in my brain, the logical, practical part knew that we needed the credits, few as they might be. We didn't even have to clean Kyatia's accounts out, maybe take half of what she had. It would give us some additional hard cash, never a bad thing to have on Omega. You never knew when you might need to bribe someone, or buy a pack of medigel from a street vendor who didn't even know how to access a bank account, much less arrange for secured transfers.

And Kyatia, while friendly and personable, was still a Talon. She wasn't a freelancer, she wasn't going to be going to Illium when this was done to help us deal with the SIU. And as Voya had said, anything that had happened in battle had been more than repaid both ways. Her people had saved us, we had saved them.

Fuck. Maybe it was my old chivalrous streak making a case for worst-timing-ever.

I took a slow step back from Voya and brought two fingers up to pinch the bridge of my nose. "It's... shit. Fine. But we're not taking everything she has."

She blinked a few times. _What?_

"I said fine, but we aren't taking all of her money. Maybe half."

Wide eyes with glowing irises continued to be blink in confusion, the word not changing.

"Was I not supposed to agree?"

_No. You were supposed to be a stubborn, idiotic, idealistic bosh'tet so I could punch you until you gave in._

"Ah." That made rather glad that I'd taken a pair of minutes to think through things. "Do you want me to admit that I might have been projecting a bit onto Kyatia, and being more emotional than practical?"

_You just did, why would I want you to repeat yourself?_

"Now you're just trying to get me to hit you so you can beat me up."

Voya huffed a little. _I should have said something in the mess hall. You were annoyed enough to hit me then._

I didn't bother denying it. "Probably best that we not hit each other. Or do you want to be limping when Aria sends out the call?"

_As if you'd actually manage to land a hit on me._

"I manage to hit you all the time." I just didn't usually win in the end.

She sniffed irritably. _I don't recall a single such instance._

Rolling my eyes, I shifted back to the main topic before she found something that actually would annoy me enough to risk the pain she'd probably deliver. "So yes, we will take her money, just not all of it."

_Keelah, I heard you the fist two times. And when did I say we were?_

"You wouldn't complain if we did."

 _No, I'm not as soft as you._ Her other hand rose slightly. _I'm not saying that insultingly. I'm just... more damaged. Keelah, I still have no idea how you handle everything._

"Yes you do. Alcohol, chehala, repression, and plenty of sex with Rane."

A tiny nose flexed as she snorted. _I drink plenty, but there aren't many Quarian drugs for me to abuse off of Xentha. And I'm... too emotional to just shove things down like you do._

Grunting, I turned away and padded over towards the kitchen, hearing her following me a few moments later. "You're too emotional, I'm too repressed, we're both fucked up."

_Can't help but notice that you didn't refute the abuse part._

My lips twisted a little when I glanced back and saw her words, "Chehala isn't dust but that doesn't mean it's good for me."

_I didn't think it did much to Batarians._

"It doesn't. I can look forwards to a mild addiction, mostly where I'll have problems sleeping if I don't smoke it. And sooner or later I'll have enough resistance to need quite a bit to get the same exhausting effect." By looking forwards to I meant I was pretty sure I was already there. Eventually it would lead to insomniac episodes as the chehala wouldn't help me to sleep at all, but for now... I needed the damned rest. I could wean myself off the leaves when we were on Illium. "Tea?"

_Spiked?_

I waved a hand at the fridge. "Pick your flavor. And mine."

When Rane came 'home' thirty minutes later, the pair of us were relaxing at the kitchen table, well into our second set of drinks Not enough to really get intoxicated, we weren't that stupid. If the alert _did_ go out being drunk would make participating rather difficult. And somehow I didn't think Sederis would appreciate us not showing up after she'd put the minor effort into making sure we'd be clear to participate with her forces.

Normally I wouldn't have had any problems just staying with the Talons, or perhaps Ayle and Thul's team, but neither group was going to be in at the death, as it were. The Talons were mostly going to be establishing a perimeter, Nyreen abusing the fact that Aria didn't know she commanded the group to request rather obscene amounts of credits for her aid. I'm sure the Queen didn't know her money was probably going to go to improving the lives of Omega's citizens.

As for my fellow Reyja'krem, they'd be joining T'Ravt's people in securing the area's only hanger to make sure Garm didn't risk taking to space. He'd have to be a complete and total idiot to do so given that one of Aria's dreadnoughts was loitering just outside, hence my lack of desire to join them. Of course, even if he was that stupid, he was still a Krogan.

He wouldn't flee.

"My Reyja'krem. Voya." My lover seemed mildly surprised, her eyes flickering around as she inspected the place. "There is far less damage than I was lead to expect."

"I had an attack of common sense." I sipped from my half-empty cup. "We're spending shift three and probably four doing some work for Kyatia."

"So I heard." Long legs drew my eyes down a bit as she headed our way, her little smile and Voya's eyes rolling making it clear that neither missed where I was looking. "I also heard there was quite an argument about whether or not we should accept payment."

_We will be. Assuming Cieran can stop staring at you long enough for us to actually go do work._

"I can stare all I want, we aren't doing anything for six hours"

Rane flushed a little as she sat. "Reyja'krem."

"You can yell at me when I reach Asari levels." By which I meant Trena levels, but from the way she almost grinned she knew who and what I was talking about. "Glitch?"

"I think it is effectively repaired at this point. As much as it ever is, anyway. What were you planning on doing with them when we leave?"

I shrugged a little. "Sell them to Red if she has the credits, otherwise haul them back with us."

 _It could be good to have a pair of guards that aren't members of the Eclipse._ Voya mused, her greyish lips pursing. _I say we take them back._

"We're back to voting now?"

She rolled her eyes. _I trust you to be our leader Cieran, but that doesn't mean I won't pound sense into your brain when required._

Grunting, I shifted my gaze back to Rane, who gave me a little Asari shrug of her own. "I would prefer to keep them, after the work we've put in."

"Looks like we're taking them with then." I didn't think that would be an issue. When compacted down they weren't all that large, the bigger issue might be once we arrived. Glitch had it's name for a reason, the last thing we'd need was it deciding that the Eclipse were enemies and opening fire or something equally asinine.

Like shooting at Sederis.

Shuddering mentally, I tried to shift the topic. "You hear anything while you were working?"

Rane started to indicate no before catching herself. "Actually yes. The diner that you and Voya had those issues with while I was on Illium, did it have an Asari and a human running it?"

I blinked at the question. I'd nearly forgotten about that incident entirely. "I... think so?"

_It did. Why?  
_

"They're dead." The lowborn's lips twisted a little. "Murdered, actually. More than a few of the Talons are rather upset about that, it was a popular destination."

That rather sucked, but this was Omega after all. Store owners getting killed wasn't exactly news, there had been very good reasons for why we'd always been in our armor when we'd run our own. "So... what? Robbery gone bad? Someone didn't like the food? A couple of idiots just get bored?"

"Someone broke into their living space above the store during their closed period." She frowned slightly, obviously trying to remember what gossip she'd heard. "One of the local patrols was called by a resident when they heard screaming. Whoever killed them apparently... enjoyed doing so."

 _I'm all for killing people who deserve it in painful ways, but they were a rather nice couple._ Voya's good humor faded as her face drew into a frown. _New serial killer? That district is probably overdue for one._

Which was depressingly true. Omega went through serial killers about as rapidly as it went through vigilantes. That there were plenty of psychos on station went without saying, but most of them were smart enough to demand payment for their services and to not waste their time on the civilian population. The less intelligent ones, often those getting off the Citadel one step ahead of C-Sec, often tried to continue their fun and games with the 'vulnerable' citizenry.

Most of them didn't live long. Even Omega's unemployed tended to be armed and paranoid in ways people on the Citadel very much weren't. It wasn't uncommon to find someone with a massive C-Sec bounty face-down in an alley, their erstwhile prey busy frisking them for anything valuable.

"Strange first target." I shook my head. "That Asari looked like she could handle herself. Those types usually try to start off with the drifters, easier prey in their minds."

"No one's noticed more dead bodies than usual, but with the fighting the patrols have cut down. It's possible that they missed a few." My lover shrugged again. "It's also possible this individual prefers the thrill of difficulty."

_That almost sounds like Krom._

"He even still on station?"

Neither of the women knew, and a quick check of the usual boards where assassins advertized their openings didn't have anything from him. But then again, why the fuck would someone at his level kill a pair of people who ran a diner in the mid region of Tuhi? Rane didn't think that they'd been political in terms of supporting one gang or another, and there hadn't been any major bounties posted for people with their description.

 _Maybe they screwed up is order._ Voya shrugged a little, leaning back in her chair as she set her empty glass aside. _Or we're just being paranoid._

"Probably are." Covering a yawn, I joined her in slumping backwards, letting the Batarian posture fade in exchange for simply relaxing. "Red will probably flood the district once the fighting is over. Not that we'll be here."

"Thank the Pillars for that." Rane groaned. "I keep assuring myself there is only a few days remaining until Trisren is avenged, and then we will return to a place with sunlight. And oceans."

"Sederis's place is right on the ocean... think she has a beach?"

Four dark eyes blinked at me, "We'd be awfully exposed, my Reyja'krem."

I waved that off. "Assuming it's properly protected, it's Sederis after all."

_You just want to see her wearing next to nothing, and that nothing being very wet._

Rane flushed maroon, and I felt a bit of heat enter my own cheeks. "That is true, but you didn't exactly need to point it out."

_Oh I'm sorry, you only stare at her ass whenever she's walking away from you._

"Voya." The lowborn nearly growled, her skin still darkening. "You do not need to emulate Illyan."

It was the Quarian's turn to flush, her mouth opening at what she took as a blatant insult. _I was not!_

"You kind of were." I barely held back a smirk. "Maybe you're more alike than you want to admit."

 _I..._ She seethed for a long moment. _I hate you both. I am going to sleep._

Not bothering to clean up her glass, she shoved her chair back and stomped off towards her room, her petite hands curled into fists. I waited until the door shut behind her before I snorted in amusement, Rane almost giggling alongside me.

Finishing off my own tea, I left the glass on the table as I stood, politely offering my arm to my companion as I did. She took it after a moment, her skin remaining dark as I helped her up, the pair of us slowly heading towards our bedroom.

"Reyja'krem, are you doing all right?" Rane kept her voice low as we moved past Voya's room. "How difficult was the argument?"

"Not that bad, once I forced myself to think." I exhaled, a hand rising to unlock our room. "She pointed out I probably shouldn't be offering charity work to Kyatia. And that I might have been compensating for not saving Trisren with watching out for her."

"Hmm." She hummed quietly as I stood aside to let her enter first, closing the door behind me and making sure to lock it. "I wasn't quite ready to... confront my Reyja'krem on that, though I might have if I had been there."

"Well... Voya did it for you." Catching her shoulders, I pulled her back before she could head for the bed. She swallowed heavily as I turned her around and slowly pushed her until her back was flush against the wall.

"Ryeja... Cieran..." Her head dipped to the left, exposing her neck as she tried to arch a bit to tense her abs. "There's... still more to talk about..."

My fingers trailed down her flanks, feeling her chest moving as she breathed. "Then keep talking."

"But you're..." I shifted her shirt enough to feel her skin, the way her thick bands of muscle were moving beneath my touch. My left hand stayed on her stomach, entirely enjoying that while my right slipped around to her back. " _Cieran._ "

"I'm not stopping you from talking, am I?" She quivered when I found the cartilaginous plates protecting her spine, teasing her by drifting my hand up and down them without touching the ultra-sensitive skin between them.

Rane sucked in a slow breath, closing her lower eyes as she tried to focus in an admirable display of will. "Cieran, my Reyja... krem... Trisren's death wasn't... wasn't your..."

She stopped talking when I leaned down and bit the base of her neck, her words becoming little more than a growling moan. I felt her chest swell as she tried to take a deep breath to continue speaking, but the only word that came out was a quiet oath as her hands found my shirt and roughly tried to begin yanking it off of me.

Needless to say, we didn't end up discussing what I should or should not be blaming myself for. In the aftermath we more or less collapsed into bed, her body wrapped around mine as we dropped into pleasantly exhausted sleep. I'm sure if we could have she would have brought the topic up once we woke up, or waited until we were working on Kyatia's armor so that Voya could support her.

In the end, the conversation didn't happen, nor did we work on the Turian woman's armor. Three hours after we passed out, my omni-tool woke us with a priority message from Sederis, telling us to be at Afterlife in two hours.

Aria T'loak was finally taking to the field.

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 10: A Demon's Fall** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came in fits and starts, this is actually the third version after I finally settled on putting in a final, relatively, calm chapter between the three of them. The next two chapters are going to cover Aria and her coalition's push on the Blood Pack's primary base on station, with Garm's death as the ultimate goal.
> 
> A few other news items; I've updated my profile to include the dates for each of the AR stories to give everyone a pretty good idea as to what each of the fics is going to cover. I also put in some teasing information for Vengeance, the Canon char cameo list has been updated to include all of the chars my current outline has showing up.
> 
> As for Vengeance itself, the story is going to follow a very different format from these three stories. It will still be first person, and currently will be almost entirely from Cieran's point of view, but the Act format is going away. Instead the story will be divided into 'Operations' that cover specific missions or campaigns, with interludes in between each operation to provide the 'slice of life' sections. It's projected to be far longer than any of the other stories I've written, mostly because of the very long period of time it is going to span.
> 
> Now, I did promise a few things as far as Cieran, and his continuing survival goes. Those who read Arrival will now that my original outline wasn't much like what came out, and shifted as I realized I liked Nynsi and Trena too much to follow it. What I'm not sure that people knew is that my second outline... had Cieran Kean dying from his wounds at the end of AR: Arrival. The goal would have been to throw the SI genre for a loop by having the SI die very early on, but having his information still getting to Trena via his will, leaving it to her to try and figure out just what the fuck to do.
> 
> Why did that not happen... mostly because I chickened out at the last moment, too nervous at the idea of trying to write a new story from Trena's point of view and whether or not people would have read it. Part of me still regrets that quite a bit to be honest, but I'm still enjoying writing Cieran. My current outline for Vengeance in particular has me very excited, and the Blocked Writer highly approves of it, so expect all kinds of fun in the future. :)
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	41. Act 3: A Demon's Fall

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Chapter 10: A Demon's Fall**

I threw myself into cover, Rane's heavy frame slamming into the burning aircar a moment later as she joined me. Tracer rounds were screaming past overhead in a way that I found to be distinctly annoying, nearly as much as the constant electronic chatter from the swam of Eclipse mechs advancing down the broad street.

"I'm starting to regret this!" I had to shout to be heard, even across our helmet to helmet line.

"Not the best time!" Rane shouted back, rising to a knee to send a long burst from her rifle over the aircar's shattered hood. "Reyja'krem, the pylon?"

It was a good a place as any, and at least the wreck would protect the thing. And the mechs were very much stalled, the Blood Pack having managed to create a crossfire just ahead that was trashing them. Either one of the few intelligent Vorcha was reining in his kin, or there was a Krogan maintaining tight control. Probably the latter, standard Blood Pack formations seemed to be about thirty or so Vorcha per one Krogan, effectively giving each of the proud creatures their own miniature army.

Either way, the machines needed an edge, and that was what we were here for.

Reaching behind me, I heaved the collapsed thing off of my back. Muttering to myself as I repeated the steps that the Eclipse engineers had shown me a few hours ago, I started getting everything put together as quickly as my armored hands could work.

Sederis had been true to her word of getting us involved in the push on Garm's stronghold. But as I I'd just shouted to Rane, I was very much beginning to regret that I'd even asked. She'd got us spots in the Eclipse's first wave along with the other combat engineers, supporting the mechanical human-wave of combat mechs that Jaroth was throwing forwards to try and clear out the Blood Pack's Vorcha equivalent.

"Voya, you still alive?" There was a loud tongue-click in response to my question. She got to hang farther back than us, amusing herself with her sniper rifle while Rane and I were stuck in. "Can you see whoever is coordinating that shit?"

A pair of clicks.

"Shit." Planting the base of the pylon down, I flicked my omni-tool open and activated it. In theory there would be a quite whirring as it extended to its meter height, not that I could hear it over the cacophony around me. "This is Kean, pylon deployed."

" _I see you."_ Our nominal 'commander' on this run was a gruff Asari matron named Janna, who'd apparently been doing combat engineering for the Eclipse for nearly two centuries. " _Saved me the trouble of ordering you to set it. We've got three more going up, I need you and your girl to start an incinerate barrage."_

"Got it." The shield pylon glowed blue for a moment, my HUD flickering as the device's VI scanned my armor. Realizing I wasn't a mech, it's sensor swiveled to Rane, ran another scan, then turned again to find a nearby LOKI shuffling forwards with a carbine snapping off measured shots. There was a blue streaming of light as it quickly recharged the mech's limited barriers, more power streams appearing as it located several other machines nearby in need of assistance.

"Rane, you heard?"

"I did, Reyja'krem." She'd already ducked down, collapsing her assault rifle in favor of activating her omni-tool. "Focus left?"

"Works for me." Exhaling, I gave her a quick nod and then stood.

The street stretched out ahead of us, not that there was much to see. Kima district had long been held by the Blood Pack, and was subsequently little more than a massive slum. Wrecked aircars, blown out walls, and general rubble made it extremely rough going for us, much less the gangly mechs.

And it gave our enemies plenty of cover when they were smart enough to use it.

Rane and I both began gesturing, glowing tech mines streaking from our belts towards the targets we'd picked out. The Vorcha were roughly split between the smart ones, who were taking cover as well as any other soldiers might have, and the idiots, who were standing and wandering and just shooting from the hip.

We focused on the latter, stupid or not they still had guns and the Vorcha's innate ability to aim. Fireballs burst to life as our grenades found their targets, the eerie hissing screams of immolated Vorcha audible even over the gunfire. Somewhere behind us a sniper rifle began snapping as Voya finished off those only singed by the blasts, earning her a quick thanks as we continued to work.

Unfortunately, while I didn't particularly think of Vorcha as intelligent, they did seem to have an instinctive knowledge of combat. Several immediately shifted their fire from their mechs to where Rane and I were sending more mines their way, the odd mixed weaponry sending sparks flying as they ricocheted off of our barriers.

Worse, the stupid shield pylon was configured only to support the mechs, meaning first Rane, then I had to duck back down after killing maybe eight or nine targets.

But what we, and the other Eclipse engineers likewise causing explosions of fire, were able to do was buy the mechs time. In focusing on us the Blood Pack let the stumbling machines advance a good twenty plus meters. And that was quite enough for even the targets in cover to start dying as the mixed LOKI and RAMPART machines lit them up.

" _They're pulling back... there's that asshole!"_ Janna snapped as a massive shape broke from behind a corner. " _Concentrate fire!_ "

Popping back up I sent one, then two incinerates chasing the Krogan who'd apparently been directing the local defense. Rane sent one of her own, while the Eclipse on the other side of the street opened fire conventionally.

Our target staggered as our mines exploded around him, shots tearing at his armor as he tried to lumber on, then dropped as as a shot found its way through. Because none of us were stupid enough to think that he was dead, we kept shooting and hitting him with mines for another ten seconds or so before ceasing.

"Well..." I blew out a long breath. "That's another intersection down."

"Yes." Rane groaned quietly. "My Reyja'krem, I'm not normally one to second guess your decisions, but I must agree with your regret."

Voya let out a pair of annoyed tongue-clicks.

"Glad you're having fun." I muttered. "You get to sit back there and snipe things, we've actually been working for the last two hours."

Her response was to send a round screaming off the hood of the aircar I was leaning on, making me jerk sideways into Rane who had to drop her gun to help keep me upright.

"Fucking bitch!"

Somehow she made a single click of her tongue against the roof of her mouth seemed self-satisfied.

Muttering a few uncomplimentary things about the mute alien, I dipped my head in thanks to Rane as she retrieved her gun.

"Wave one, hold up." Jana took advantage of the relative quiet to shout, her stocky form moving out of the cover she'd been using. "Wave two, your turn again. Get your asses moving."

A dozen plus engineers reluctantly began to appear from where they'd been catching their breath behind whatever cover they'd thought was thick enough to help, not really moving until their commander barked at them again. None of them could really bitch at her though, she was the only one who wasn't taking breaks.

At least this time we weren't swapping roles in the middle of a firefight, like we had at the last major intersection. That had been fun.

Groaning in relief, I sat with a small clatter, making sure to keep the aircar between me and where everyone was advancing. Rane dropped to a knee beside me, busying herself with checking on the shield pylon we'd alternated hauling around.

"Down to twenty percent charge." She reported after a moment. "Good for one more deployment."

"At least it still works." Letting my neck relax a bit, I felt the back of my helmet hit the wrecked vehicle. "You think this was a bad idea?"

"Avenging Trisren and the others? Of course not." The pylon began to collapse as she deactivated it. "But perhaps my Reyja'krem should have requested more details from Sederis before agreeing to this particular opportunity to do so."

I snorted quietly. "Apologies. I'll make it up to you when we're in Nos Astra."

"Nos Astra..." Her voice trailed for a moment. "When we were there I couldn't have cared less about that city. Now it seems like an oasis we left long ago."

"You have it worse than Voya and I, you got to be there for a few weeks." Worse or better. Both really. "Speaking of you, Voya, you going to come over or you just going to stay in that old apartment?"

There was an annoyed click, remonstrating me for my impatience, as said Quarian emerged from the building she'd been lurking in. Picking her way over the mix of rubble, dead Vorcha, and destroyed mechs, she sat next to me and made sure to jab the butt of her rifle into my side as she did.

Rolling my eyes, I retaliated with an elbow before we both stilled when Rane glared at us through her helmet. "Reyja'krem, I know Voya is herself, but I would prefer to spend time with Cieran Kean, not Trena T'laria."

I couldn't help but whistle. "Wow. Low blow. Deserved, but painful."

She very visibly resisted the urge to apologize, instead managing an annoyed little sniff as she finished getting our equipment ready for travel again. "Is everyone else still on schedule, my Reyja'krem?"

Sighing as we went back to business, I flicked my omni-tool back on in order to check. Our group's assignment was a flanking one, driving down a street parallel to the one Aria and Sederis were personally moving down and making sure that nothing got in behind them. We, thankfully, hadn't been involved in the fighting that had been required just to get to this particular level of the district, that had been left to T'Ravt and Aria's troops and had sounded absolutely vicious. Garm knew just who was coming for him, and what would happen if they got there, and he had thrown everything he could at the lifts and inclined streets to try and forestall the push.

"Aria is keeping pace with us easily, so is the right flank." I flicked through a few notes. "T'Ravt's team is already breaching the hanger, so they're ahead of schedule. Ayle is going to be insufferable."

Voya rolled her gleaming eyes, hands signing in front of her body to ask me how that was any different from normal.

"Fair point." Shifting my fingers, I brought up another menu, then the local map Sederis had given us. "Looks like we've got the next intersection, then we're shifting right to hit the front doors."

"You mean we are shifting right to watch Aria use the front doors to crush Krogan."

I shrugged my left shoulder as the sounds of gunfire grew again in the background, the other half of our task force hitting yet another line of resistance. "Sounds right."

The three of us enjoyed a few more minutes of relaxation and banter, shifting to what we were looking forwards to on Illium the most. Mostly that was balanced between weather and not getting shot at, and Voya obviously voted that being able to speak again was hers. That sobered us up a little bit, but we still enjoyed the downtime until Jana put out the call.

" _Wave one, up and moving. Wave two is holding the intersection, time to push towards the core."_ She paused for a long moment. " _Lots of the Pack withdrawing that way. Get yourselves ready for the final push."_

Closing my eyes, I blew out a long breath. "One more fight."

"One more." Rane murmured, heaving herself to her feet and politely offering me a hand. "Then we will finally get our vacation, my Reyja'krem. A long and pleasant one."

Goddess it would be.

Letting my lover haul me up to my feet, I rolled my eyes when Voya held up a hand in demand to also be assisted. The pair of us easily yanked the petite woman upright, the three of us moving to join the Eclipse techs as we trudged back towards the fight.

It didn't take us long to find it, the next intersection was only fifty or so meters from the one we'd taken our quick breather in. Engineers in yellow and white had split into two teams, each covering the streets that we wouldn't be taking, while Jana had assembled the twenty or so remaining mechs facing right.

A few were firing suppressing shots into the distance, only limited return fire coming back at them in retaliation.

"All right, Squad one left, Squad two right. Kean, I want your team up the middle. Ther'es enough cover so don't worry about that." She ignored a shot that whipped past her head, confidently striding over to where her people, plus us, were assembling safely behind the comforting bulk of a building. "There's a good spot about forty meters up, I want the pylon there."

"It's down to twenty percent." I grunted. "Won't last long."

"Ours is at ten." An Asari whose name I hadn't caught shook her head, the other Eclipse mercs carrying the things giving similar statements.

"Get them up as early as you can." Jana put her fists on her hips. "We need all the juice they have left. Stay in cover at all times. By Athame's sacred ass I don't want to be paying out anymore death benefits today. Understood?"

Her people let out a rumble of assent, while myself and my companions did a last weapons check. My SMG remained on my belt, as much as I was used to it it just wasn't the right tool for dealing with Vorcha or Krogan. The heavy Executioner in my hand wasn't perfect, but the massive shards it spat out had no problems tearing massive chunks out of things.

And then it was time to go.

The mechs lurched forwards at Jana's transmitted signal, two of them with carbines staying back to provide mid-range support. A quick gesture had Voya peel away from Rane and I to join them, the Quarian already hunting for cover as everyone else began to move up.

For the most part, the street ahead was Omega-standard. Half city block, half tunnel, though instead of buildings the entire left side of the road was a solid wall of metal and stone that marked the outer part of the Blood Pack fortress. Easily visible in the distance, maybe a hundred, hundred and thirty meters, was the massive barricades that they'd thrown up around the main entrance. Krogan holding heavy weapons more suited to powered armor were laying down torrents of fire as Vorcha scampered around, retaliatory strikes hammering at metal and flesh as the unseen attackers pressed on.

Initially it didn't seem like Jana's prediction of a rough fight would come to pass, the bulk of the defense more interested in blocking the main advance moving straight towards them. Even the mech's sporadic shots hadn't really gotten their attention... but twenty plus of the machines plus a dozen living people very much did get noticed.

There was a deep bellow, my translator failing entirely to process the words over the gunfire, and then a portion of the defenders broke off to head our way.

Except they didn't send Vorcha.

Six Krogan began to lumber down the street, their massive frames building momentum as they accelerated.

"Athame..." I breathed as one of them simply smashed a parked skybike out of his way, the machine fucking flying through the air as if it was a toy. We couldn't keep advancing on that, they'd have covered more than half the distance before we got properly into cover. "Hold! Firing line!"

The engineers and techs had already started to scramble to a halt, the remainder doing so when I shouted. Outside of the chain of command or not, they knew a good idea when they heard it.

So did Jana. "Squad two, Kean, incinerates! Squad one, drown 'em as they burn!"

Krogan were big, they were lumbering, and when they were at rest they were pretty awkward. But when they moved... they fucking _moved._ They started bobbing and weaving as the first volley of tech mines shot out from our launchers, their heavy bodies decidedly more agile on the run than you'd expect.

Rane and I had both selected the leader, as had two of the other engineers, but the remaining four had been more scattered as their omni-tools had simply been allowed to select the easiest targets. One the left, and behind us, guns began to chatter in earnest as they tried to break through the weakened and melted armor, the mechs mindlessly moving forwards to buy us time.

"Techs, focus front two!" I snapped before anyone could launch more incinerates.

The second volley was more effective, gleaming orange streaks exploding in sequence around the front two Krogan who were just a bit faster than the others. We got one of them with just the mines, the massive alien screaming as he fell. The other managed another meter or two before the barrage of bullets from everyone else sent him to the ground as well.

And then one of the Athame damned assholes cheated.

There was next to no warning, just the barest glimmer of biotic light, and then there was a fucking Krogan _right there_ smashing his way into two of the human Eclipse. One went down with a scream from the biotic shockwave of his charge, her body crumpling as it was flung back. The other didn't have a chance to react at all before a massive shotgun blew his head and neck into bloody fragments.

Somewhere else I could hear mechs shooting and being destroyed, Squad one trying to focus on the other three Krogan still rushing on, but I was far more concerned with the krogan biotic less than a meter away.

Throwing myself back, I yanked the trigger on my pistol as quickly as I could. The first shot went wide, the second and third blowing away ablative armor on his chest before my HUD screeched that I'd overheated the weapon.

Next to me, Rane flung a final incinerate right into him point-blank, the fire bathing all of us as the explosion drew a furious bellow pain that I could feel in my bones. The lowborn flinched away, reaching back to draw her rifle, then threw both of her hands forwards as the Krogan emerged from the flash to try and bowl over her.

She caught his shotgun, wrestling the barrel away before he could blow out her chest with a point-blank shot, grunting with the obscene effort of doing even that. Her opponent snarled again, driving her to a knee when his helmet slammed against hers but failing to dislodge her grip on his weapon.

Dropping my pistol, I was yanking my other weapon off of my belt when he abruptly changed tactics. Letting go of his weapon with one hand, he seized one of her arms and simply hauled down and sideways until she screamed as her arm dislocated. Grip broken, he brought his gun around in a club-like swing that slammed her dangling limb into her side and sent her tumbling along the ground with another deep yowl of pain.

Snarling in rage at the sight, and only later realizing how stupid I was being, I stepped right up to him and shoved my little SMG against the most scorched and battered part of his armor before yanking the trigger down.

There was another deep bellow as orange blood practically fountained over my gun and arm, and then I was flung backwards as leg as thick as a fucking tree slammed into my stomach.

"Athame's fucking..." Gasping for air, I forced my eyes open as the Krogan tried to clasp a hand over where my incinerate rounds had burned his organs, staggering when a sniper round blew one of his fingers off and further expanded the wound.

Before Voya could claim the kill, Jana stepped over me, her body glowing as she easily dodged a clumsily aimed shot before she simply shoved a hand _inside_ of the Krogan. Dark light gleamed through cracks in his armor, then through his helmet's eye slots as she burned him with warpfire from the inside out.

I didn't realize that she was injured until she staggered back, dropping to a knee as she barely avoided the corpse collapsing onto her.

"Athame's... fucking shit." She seethed, a hand clutching at a leg covered in purple rather than orange blood. "All targets down?"

"Yes ma'am." Letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I forced shaking arms to push myself up as another Eclipse officer reported. "No more coming, they're... distracted."

Distracted?

I turned in time to see a titanic burst of warpfire and biotic light blow apart the barricade, a single figure wearing a white coat visibly strutting into the fortress as if she hadn't just fought a campaign to make it there.

"Rane?" Coughing away the pain, I managed to find my breath as I turned back to where she'd landed. "Rane?"

"I'm... here, my Reyja'krem." My lover tried to sit up, only to let out a low moan and settle back down. "Most of me... the station is spinning."

And her arm was very dislocated, and also very broken. Jana's only medic had at least survived, the human male apologetic as he drafted me to help him. Getting her shoulder back into place drew curses I hadn't even known that she knew, and binding the broken limb to her chest to stop her from moving it had only drawn more.

"Kean." I glanced away from where he was checking her for a concussion, Jana limping her way over to us. "If she can walk, they're setting up a triage station on the main throughway. If you want to catch up to Aria before she finishes off Garm you'll need to move."

I glanced at Rane, her upper eyes flicking my way. "Reyja'krem."

My lips curled a little at the gentle, if pained, reminder. She wasn't a delicate thing who would break if we left her alone for a while, and she would be insulted if I insisted on staying. "Voya, come on. We'll get Rane to triage, then go record Garm getting what he deserves. She good to be moved doc?"

"I'm a medic, not a doctor." From the way he said it I wasn't the first one to have called him that. "And she's fine, can still move both sets of eyes independently, likely just had the wind knocked out of her in addition to the arm."

"Thanks." And I seriously meant it. He hadn't hesitated, and apparently knew how to treat Batarians. Or he was faking it. No, try to be optimistic Cieran, time on this shithole is nearly over-with.

Rane managed to stand, albeit wobbly, on her own, but I still threw her good arm over my shoulder before she could protest. Voya kept her rifle in her hands just in case, and the three of us set off through the battlefield.

The other Krogan had died just as hard as the asshole we'd dealt with, scrapping most of the mechs and a few others from the Eclipse before being brought down. Jana and another Asari were limping between the corpses, summoning their biotic fire to make sure that they stayed dead while the remaining mechs stood guard. All three of them. And one didn't have arms.

Snorting, I gave the commander a grateful tilt of my head, which she waved off before limping over to the next body.

Reaching the main street took a little while, Rane managing decent speed at first but quickly slowing as the pain overrode what little the medic had been able to give her. Voya quickly flagged down a set of stretcher-bearers, the Asari slowing to a halt.

"We can take her sir." They ignored her demure protests entirely as they quickly ushered her down, laying her armored frame out. "She'll be waiting for you."

I was opening my mouth to thank them when another set moved past, leaving the fortress with a lithe Asari clutching her leg between them. She, unlike Rane, wasn't being shy at all about telling them to put her the fuck down so she could watch the finale.

"Back soon my Rane."

"As you say, my Reyja'krem."

Voya nudged me with an arm, rolling her eyes when I spent more than a second watching them carry her towards the doctors.

"Oh shut up." That earned me a much harder whack that was thankfully absorbed my armor. Not feeling like carrying my pistol but recognizing that not having a weapon in hand was stupid, I yanked my cane off of my back, twirling it once before using it to push off with.

From there it was simply a case of following the bodies. Aria had left... a rather clear trail of them in her wake. Here and there dead Asari or Batarians showed where some of her troops had fallen, but for the most part the dead were those of the Blood Pack.

Down one hallway, and then another, we caught sight of plenty of both Aria and Sederis's people already engaged in looting, and heard more of the same as they started to ransack the place. Nobody bothered us until we started to hear the sounds of cheers and dark laughter echoing, and found a pair of guards outside a broad double-set of doors that had been blown open from this side.

The two Asari in Eclipse yellow waved us on, and we emerged into what had once been a multi-level garage of some kind. Glancing up, it was easy to see the ranks of mercenaries and gangsters on each walkway, all shouting their heads off at whatever was happening in the center.

Judicious use of my cane and Voya's elbows got us through part of the crowd, a few of Sederis's bodyguards recognized us and brought us the rest of the way, letting us join them as they watched the spectacle unfold.

Aria and Sederis stood over an abominably huge Krogan, who was far less intimidating given that they'd ripped all of his armor off.

"My turn." The Eclipse leader sing-songed as she stepped forwards, body aglow as an arm rose in a negligent gesture. "Time to fly little Garm."

Garm bellowed threats and curses as he became airborne, floating upwards slowly as the crowd cackled. His shouts turned to a deep throated snarl of pain when he abruptly was slammed to the ground with another flash of light, bones audibly breaking with the force of his impact.

"Come now Jona." Aria tutted, her heels striking the ground as the crowd quieted to hear her. "You are much to rough. A man like Garm must be treated... carefully."

And with that the Blood Pack leader on station was again sent flying, this time in a slow parabola that saw him dangle helplessly for the maximum amount of time before striking the wall and dropping a good meter to the ground.

Snorting a little, I shook my head a little, wondering how long they were going to humiliate him before executing him.

Then my fucking omni-tool went off with an incoming call.

Blinking, I frowned at my HUD as it hummed on that for a moment, eventually displaying that the caller was unknown. As I couldn't think of anyone I knew who would contact me incognito like that, and the doctor's with Rane would had to have used hers to get my address regardless, I flicked a finger to ignore it.

And then again.

And then again.

I put in a bit of extra work the fourth time, blocking whoever it was entirely, only half watching as Sederis settled down beside us and her guard to watch as Aria took over the show as was her right.

Thirty seconds later, a new unknown address began to buzz for my attention.

Throughoughly annoyed at this point, I let out a hissing breath as I flicked the accept button. "Who the fuck is this?

_"Rather rude way to open a conversation."_ The voice spoke in English, not much of an accent that I could place. But... familiar. " _Then again you've ignored my last few calls, Eleven, so I suppose it's par for the course with you."_

"You called four times, not eleven idiot. Now who the fuck are you, and where did you get my address?"

_"I do possess the ability to count. Eleven is simply what I prefer to call you. Better than 'the asshole who so fucked with my good thing with the True Sons', don't you think? Shorter anyway."_

Blinking, and now barely aware of the crowd's cheers as Aria did something else humiliating to her prey, I could only stare at my omni-tool in shock. "Krom?"

" _Pleasure to finally speak with you, Eleven. We have so much to talk about."_

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 11: A New War** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter was surprisingly hard to come up with, to the point where Chapter 11 and E-1 are both already done. As such, my usual pre-written chapter rules are in effect, 12 reviews within 24 hours of this posting will see the next chapter come out. Otherwise a probable Friday post.
> 
> A warning; the next chapter was... rough to write. Things happen.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	42. Act 3: A New War

I don't own the Mass Effect

* * *

**Chapter 11: A New War**

"Krom." I felt my face pull into a frown as I stared at my omni-tool, unconsciously repeating myself. "What the fuck do you want? And how did you get my address?"

" _To talk, and around."_

"Whatever." A quick flick of a finger killed the line before he could utter another word... only for my omni-tool to begin flashing again as he simply called back yet again. "Not interes-"

" _Hanging up on old friends isn't polite Eleven."_

I blinked a few times in confusion.

Apparently taking that as assent to continue, the assassin did so. " _Honestly it's so good to see you up and around, much less suicidal than when we were living together. Though I suppose you had your reasons, it was still rather pathetic honestly. I hope you don't mind me saying that."_

"What the fuck are you going on about?"

" _You don't remember me?"_ A tinge of disappointment entered his voice. " _For shame, we were such good friends before the procedure."_

Something like lead began to sink through my chest, dragging my heart downwards as I tried to find my words. "Who the fuck are you?"

" _What, you thought you were the only one who could fake his death to escape that bitch of a Matriarch?"_ Krom snorted. " _I did it less than a week after, I'm rather surprised you waited as long as you did."_

Next to me, Voya had turned away from where Aria was amusing herself by drinking wine while still batting Garm around like a toy with her biotics, her gleaming eyes wide as she stared at me. I could only shake my head, trying to process what the fuck I was hearing.

"Faked your death..." Calling me an old friend. A procedure. That bitch of a Matriarch. Memories of files I'd told Sederis about not that long ago. "The body with the prostitute."

" _Ah, so your mind still does work. I was starting to wonder. A drifter given my identification, a maiden down on her luck, and voila. My partner and I were free to do as we pleased."_ There was a slow chuckle. " _But listen to me, monologing as if we were still preparing for what was coming, trying to keep you from wrapping your bedsheets around your neck before it happened."_

Anger rose, temporarily banishing the strange dread. "I'm not fucking suicidal!"

" _Now you aren't, didn't I already compliment you on that? Such a nice change. Whatever, I'm wandering off the primary topic. This little war that's begun. Krogan against Asari. We both know the other races are just pawns, those are the ones that matter. Even better, we've both picked a side."_

"I'm not on anyone's side." Exhaling, I shook myself a bit, trying to recover. "Garm is dead or about to be. I don't give a fuck what happens after this."

The assassin let out a disappointed sigh. " _I know. You're all set to go to Illium and wait out the next few years in a mansion. Practical if so very fucking boring. And it wouldn't give me the chance to figure out the real question."_

I'd heard enough, I started to shift my hand to cut the line again only for Voya to snap out and grab my finger, making me hiss in pain as she squeezed them tightly together.

" _You have company? Your vicious little Quarian maybe? You always did have a soft spot for the broken ones Eleven. I always thought it was because you couldn't face your own pain."_ There was a scoffing noise. " _Always repression with you. Never just letting the anger out."_

"It's out now." Voya couldn't stop me from snapping verbally. "Now fucking explain yourself."

_"Or what? You'll kill me old friend?"  
_

"It's getting awfully tempting. And you aren't my friend."

" _The first is... so very good to hear. The next stage would be difficult if you were still weak, then again, it will be difficult regardless but that's rather the point."_

I tried to hang up again, but Voya wouldn't let go of my damned hand. Her other rose, signing a few words at me as best she could, demanding I get all of the information I could about what had happened to me.

"Fine. What's your _real question_?"

" _We're both called failures, Eleven. But we both know we're vastly superior to the vapid headed idiots she put on the Citadel. They're soft, weak, pathetic. I would kill them if it wouldn't be so god-damned easy. You though... you."_ My lips thinned. I didn't like where this was going. Or that he apparently knew that the Matriarch had brought multiple people onto the Citadel. " _You and I are her true successes even if she won't admit it, even if she's trying to kill us. And one of us is going to kill that bitch."_

"So you want to what? Have a polite little duel to decide which of us is stronger or some shit?"

There was a bark of laughter. " _Fuck no. I want to wage war against you. I want to hunt you and yours while you hunt me and mine. I want to know which one of us is better, which of us supports our side in this war more effectively, which one of us_ _deserves_ _to kill Cynthi T'Ravt."_

"You do. Game over. Go kill her."

" _So I do all the hard work while you lounge on Illium drinking, smoking, and getting laid? Don't insult me Eleven, you aren't getting out of this."_

My lips curled with irritation. "Fuck off Krom."

" _Such language, old friend. You're involved already, whether you like it or not. I rather hope you don't, I want to see your edge hardened."_

Whether I liked it or not? "What the fuck are you-"

" _You didn't think I'd give you a choice, did you? I've been watching you. Observing. Listening. I had almost given up on finding a way to force you into this, you were too cautious, too paranoid, too open to fleeing to Nos Astra if things got too dangerous. All very practical of you, I must admit. But then... then your friends died. Your logic went out the window, you declared a vendetta against the Blood Pack. And suddenly... I knew just how to make you come after me."_

I froze. Every inch of my body ceased moving, including my heart.

No. It wasn't possible. She was at the medical station. Safe and secure there, protected by Aria's commandos.

" _It was rather convenient actually. Liselle T'loak was injured in the fighting, but she still wanted to see her mother in triumph. Your dear Batarian lover didn't wish to be separated from you, and so volunteered to help her limp your way."_

No.

She wouldn't have... no.

My legs were moving without input from my brain, Voya racing to keep up as I shoved my way through the crowd watching Aria execute her prey, unaware of... of...

No.

" _Two birds, one stone. Well, two birds, one shot each. Same thing really."_

No.

If Krom said anything else, I don't remember it. The entirety of my brain was focused on running, on lengthening my long legs as far as I could to eat the distance, my cane lashing out at anyone who didn't move fast enough.

People were shouting at me in anger. Others in confusion. Yet more in worry. A female voice shouting for people to follow me, that something was wrong.

No. It didn't matter. She wasn't... he was lying.

The path ahead cleared as I left the bulk of the army, most of them lounging and already preparing to celebrate victory. My feet carried me down one broad hallway, then another, eventually bringing me to the entrance hall. I knew there were people present, already struggling to remove the carpet of bodies present, to organize them by side.

They didn't matter.

The two people limping in through the massive doorways did. One was tall, in matte black armor, on arm bound against her chest. She was helping a limping Asari with a dancer's build move, her other arm wrapped around her shoulders as the pair entered the fortress. It was the same one we'd seen cursing up a storm, having not wanted to be pulled away from the fortress despite her wounds.

And for a moment, I felt pure relief like nothing else I'd ever felt.

The first shot hit the Asari, Liselle T'loak apparently, off-center in her back. Purple blood misted as she collapsed wordlessly, her body already curling reflexively as if that would save it. Rane stumbled, trying to haul the mortally wounded woman upright to get them out of the exposed position.

Krom's second shot hit her in the back. She didn't scream, there was... just a quiet sound on my comms, a note of surprise as if Voya or I had just stepped on her foot.

And then she was falling, armor clattering as she made no motion to arrest her fall. Somewhere there was an alarm quietly buzzing in my helmt, my HUD flashing to alert me that a squadmate's heart had stopped beating.

Somewhere far away, because that couldn't be happening.

It couldn't be.

No.

No.

I hadn't realized that I'd stopped moving. That I'd given the people behind me time to catch up. I noticed when I tried to run forwards, tried to get to her, and a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and hauled me sideways. I tried to fight whoever it was off, tried to keep going, and both of us stumbled to the ground.

It saved my life.

Krom's third shot screamed off of my left shoulder pauldron, right where my heart had been a few breaths before. My barriers collapsed instantly as the armor shattered, shoulder dislocating with a hideous burst of pain simply from the force of the glancing blow.

I hissed in pain as Voya became visible, the Quarian getting out from where I'd landed on her to haul me out of the doorway's profile. The motion sent waves of agony into my arm and shoulder, which didn't fucking matter because I had to get to Rane!

There was more shots as Voya held me on the ground, eventually wrapping an arm around my neck in a choke hold because nothing else would stop me from trying to get up. Later I'd be told that Krom had amused himself by killing three of the corpse-takers, and one of Sederis's bodyguard who'd followed us.

My companion didn't let me go until a pair of Asari biotically charged past us, slamming their hands out to create barriers and blocking any further shots. There was a single, desultory shot that made one of them flinch a the ripples it sent across her wall of light, and then nothing.

Rane.

Shoving myself upright with my only functioning arm, I stumbled forwards until I was near where she was laying face down. It seemed like such a small thing. Just a small hole in her armor, just off-center to the right. Such a tiny thing.

Grabbing her shoulder, I rolled her onto her back and away from Liselle's twitching body. There wasn't any resistance, no motion within her helmet's visor.

His shot hadn't penetrated the other side, which meant... oh goddess. It would have reflected off of her armor's interior, ricocheting around through... through...

Somewhere people were shouting. Orders were being given. Aria's daughter was removed, people who sounded like doctors shouting at one another.

But none of that mattered. Nothing mattered.

Rane was...

A hand that was shaking too much to belong to me rose to gently take her arms, shifting them to her chest. There... now it... didn't look so bad. More like she was just sleeping.

Except she wasn't.

She wasn't.

What... what the fuck was I supposed to do now? Rane had been... my anchor. Ever since she'd returned from being shot in the back, she'd been there for me. As a lowborn willing to do what I asked, as a friend willing to do what it took to help me, then as a lover willing to stay with me no matter what kind of shit I ended up involved in.

I'd... never told her that. Any of it. I hadn't been ready, not so soon after Nynsi. And now I'd never be able to. Never be able to see if she felt the same in truth, rather than simply assuming that she did.

Now... now what?

"Kean." A quiet, strangely gentle voice spoke behind me. "Hey."

I couldn't turn away from Rane's cor...bo... from Rane.

"Human." Fingers fell on my shoulder, but didn't exert any pressure. "You there?"

"Yeah." I didn't recognize my own voice. I barely recognized Sederis's.

"Your omni-tool's been flashing for twenty minutes now."

Had it been that long? It couldn't have, I'd just sat down next to her. Blinking, it took far more effort that it should have to look away from the armored form in front of me. Sure enough my omni-tool was flashing, the electric blue glow of the hard-light pulsing with an incoming call.

There wasn't a sender address.

"You going to answer?"

One of my shoulders might have twitched. "Should I?"

"Yes."

"All right." A finger stretched out, tapping the floating button. "Who is this."

_"So good of you to finally pick up. My compliments to your Quarians' reaction time by the way."_

The voice struck something inside of me. A match that ignited an inferno that rapidly rose, swelling as it moved through my veins. "Krom. You motherfucking son of a bitch."

_"Come now number eleven, you knew it was going to happen. And don't call me Krom, call me Nine."_

"I'll call you whatever the fuck I want." The snarl made my chest thrum. "You are fucking dead."

 _"Man... you have no idea how good it is to hear those words. Now I'm not as regretful that I missed. This is going to be a fun hunt, much better than Twelve."_ I opened my mouth to snarl at him again, only for an armored hand to grab my dislocated shoulder. Pain made me gasp as Sederis shut me up, letting Krom continue to talk. " _I mean, seriously. All he did was open a fucking restaurant with his minder. Useless."_

Sucking in a long breath, I felt the logical part of my brain filing that away for later analysis. The rest of me...

He'd killed Rane.

He had _killed_ Rane.

This son of a motherfucking bitch had killed _Rane._

When I spoke again, I didn't scream. I didn't snarl. My voice was as quiet and furiously cold. "You are going to suffer before you die, Krom."

" _Promises number Eleven. Promises, promises."_ His sigh was almost contented. " _But don't worry. You'll have your chance. I'll be staying with the Blood Pack, I think. T'Ravt won't be happy that I didn't kill you like she wanted."_

I was done. I didn't care what this insane freak had to say, my hand shifting to end the call. Before I could, Sederis' hand again crunched down, stopping me from moving and forcing me to continue to listen to the asshole.

_"I always wanted to see who would win between Krogan and Asari... and between you, and me. You've really grown since we last met. You're nothing like the pathetic, suicidal creature you once were. Now it will actually be a challenge... and I do adore those. It's going to be a fun couple of years Eleven. I'll be seeing you."_

The line cut out after that, leaving me staring at my wrist, the inferno in my chest not calming in the slightest.

"Kean."

My gauntlets creaked as my fists tightened. "I'm going to kill him."

"He killed Aria's daughter." Sederis reminded me, her voice quiet and serious. "She won't let you."

"He did." I felt my lips twist in a snarl, my eyes still on where Rane lay unmoving and silent. "Good. She can kill him more slowly than I can. Make it last. Make him die in pain. I'll settle for watching so long as she can manage that."

There was a long moment of silence before she spoke again. "I'll send for a medic for your arm. My people will... bring her to my flagship. You and yours can use its facilities to send her on how you wish. We will talk after that."

And then she was gone, departing without another word. I managed to look away from what was in front of me long enough to see her bodyguards in a loose circle around us, preventing anyone from approaching.

Quiet creaking on my right heralded Voya slowly kneeling beside me, her armored mask joining my own as the pair of us regarded our fal... regarded Rane. The righteous fury that I'd felt when speaking to Krom and Sederis flickered out, as if a switch had been thrown as I sagged. The Quarian on my right leaned left, her slight frame stopping me from toppling over as we sat beside one another.

"If you hurt me, will I wake up?"

Fingers slowly rose in front of her, signing the negative.

"I... I never. She..."

Voya knew. She'd lived with us for months, watched us, listened to me complain when she was away.

"Now she's... goddess." I tried to bow my head, but I couldn't look away. "I... I don't... know many Batarian rites."

Neither did she. But Rane would understand if we screwed it up. She always did.

"Then she'd tease us about it after." My lungs filled with air slowly, the action far too difficult. "I'll..."

Voya's hands found my good arm, helping me to move until my hand was resting over her visor, my limbs like lead as I struggled to process anything beyond the sight of her and the wetness beneath my eyes.

"May... may the Pillars of Strength on Khar'shan find this simple soul worthy, for... for..." I had to suck in a long breath that nearly choked me. "For..."

For she lived a full life, for she honored their wisdom, for she lived by their code, for though she was of low birth, she made the lives of those above her better for her presence.

Voya finished signing the prayer as I sat still, gently taking my hand again and bringing it down, symbolically closing the eyes of one whose soul has past on.

* * *

**End Act 3: Ronin**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter for the finale because... because. And yes, this was stupidly difficult to write to the point where... well, shit.
> 
> Rane has been one of my favorite characters to write, even if I don't know how popular she was amongst my readers. She was... a simple soul, more so than nearly any other character I've created. She was exactly what she seemed, there weren't ulterior motives, wasn't a desperate secret. Not to say she was perfect, she wasn't. But at the end of the day... she simply was whatever she thought Cieran needed her to be, even if he didn't want her to change.
> 
> I'm going to miss her.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	43. Epilogue: A Knight's Council

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Epilogue 1: A Knight's Council**

_Date: 05-12-2182_

I was... more or less comotose for the first few days after we sent Rane on. Sederis had given Voya and I a small cabin on her flagship, the battlecruiser lazily orbiting Omega as war planning and negotiations had continued.

Garm might have been dead, but Ganar Yulaz was still out there, his new Krogan Empire warring against everyone that refused to submit.

Not that I really cared at first.

I hadn't been able to bring myself to go down when they announced that they were ready to take care of Rane's body. That piece of Batarian culture was one that I found myself entirely supportive of. The broken thing laying within the armor, waiting to be fired into Sahrabarik with the Eclipse's dead, wasn't Rane. Her soul had already departed, what was left was just a husk, a painful reminder of what she had once been.

Voya had, Quarian beliefs were more in line with the other species's when it came to taking care of the body after death. It also let her assure me that no one had tried to remove her armor or do anything else asinine. She'd returned more depressed than I'd ever seen her, and the pair of us had ended up curled around another in the small bed, unable to do much of anything else to support each other.

Around the fourth day I was up and moving again, albeit slowly, trying to force my brain to work through everything that had to happen.

First, and most obvious, Krom had to die. At Aria's hands, apparently, but he had to die. I was fine with the Queen taking care of him, she could make it more brutally horrifying than I ever could.

Second, nearly as obvious, Voya and I couldn't do it on our own. Ganar had claimed responsibility for sending Krom after Liselle T'loak, so the assassin likely hadn't been lying about having chosen a side in the new war. To get him... we'd need assistance. A lot of it. Fortunately, I knew people who might be willing to help, provided I could make it in their best interests to do so.

Third, obviously distressing, Krom knew me. Had known me before... whatever the Matriarch had done to us. He'd implied we'd been friends, which I doubted, and that I'd been suicidal at the time, which was worrying. Looking up his name had been pointless, it was nothing more than symbolic. Anad meant Zero in an old Drell language, and Krom meant Nine in Krogan. So in addition to his known psychopathy he probably obsessed over his status as one of the Matriarchs' experiments.

Fourth, Matriarch T'Ravt had hired him to kill me. Which likely meant she didn't know that he was another of her failures, otherwise she would have tried to eliminate him as well. Or maybe she did know and was enjoying the spectacle of two of her 'failures' or prototypes or whatever the fuck we were trying to kill one another.

Fifth, the Asian man at the diner had been like me, and like Krom. I had to tell that to Trena when I had the chance, maybe she could look up information on him. Fuck, if I'd known who he was we might have been able to convince him to move into the Talon's base for safety.

I spent a few more days remaining a recluse, communicating with who I needed to by message rather than in person, letting the simmering rage burn away the crippling depression until I was ready to face the galaxy again.

One Omega week after, Sederis allowed a selection of people on board to speak with me. She herself lurked in the back of the circular conference room, circling us all like a shark. It would certainly make an impression on my guests, even if Voya and I more or less ignored her.

"Cieran." Ayle Ullayis didn't give me a chance to say anything when the door opened, stepping in and grabbing both of my hands as we ducked our heads in bows from one equal to another. "May the Pillar of Heart support you."

"Thanks Ayle." I exhaled as she stepped back, Thul giving me a polite bow as he stepped aside to follow her. Ayle's cadre gave me deep nods that I recognized politely as they slipped in behind him. "Thul."

"Cieran. I have a guess as to what this is about."

"I know the tenets as they apply to my position."

"Good for you." A tired Asari cut him off, Shyeel stomping in with a pair of humans in her wake. One was a man, average height and build, though the roguish mustache and long hair made him look more handsome than he probably would have without them. The other was... far skinnier than I would have expected in real life, the tattoos not quite covering up track marks on her bare arms, and there was nothing that could hide the strung-out look in her wild eyes.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Jacqueline Nought grumbled as she stared at the rest of us. "Hey, bitch, thought this was about us getting jobs, not some fucking Batarian shit."

I wasn't in the mood to deal with Jack. Or to think about what it meant that she was here at all. "Shyeel. Stop bitching and sit your fucking ass down."

The Reyja'krem stared at me. "Why the fuck should I? You haven't even told us what this is about."

My cane spun in my hands to point directly at her. "Because I will kill you if you don't sit down and shut the fuck up, and then I'll need to find a new vanguard and that would annoy me."

Shyeel stared at me in something like shock, Ayle and Thul exchanging glances with their lower eyes while the upper-sets flicked between myself and the Asari.

"Should we deal with him?" Her male companion murmured, hand sliding towards his belt. "We...ah."

A knife appeared at his throat, the sharp edge drawing a thin line of blood as Voya negligently held it there. The three of them probably hadn't even noticed her loitering near the door, or heard her pad after them once she'd locked the entrance.

"Human." Sederis spoke, her voice somehow both flat yet almost bubbling with laughter, the combination making me shudder. "Bloodstains are annoying to remove."

Shyeel froze at the other Asari's voice, and Jack's posture went from cocky to frozen inside of a single breath.

"Voya. Let him go." Shifting my grip, I let my cane return to its normal position. "Shyeel, freelancers. Sit down."

Voya did, and they did. I politely waved for Ayle and Thul to take their own seats, Ayle's cadre silently moving to stand behind their Tarath'shan as I shifted around to lean against the table rather than sitting.

"All right. You obviously know that Rane is dead, and that Krom is the one who killed her. He also offed Aria's daughter." Fists clenched reflexively, relaxing only when I took a long breath. "He's going to die for that. Unfortunately for us, he found someway off of the station and is now working closely with Ganar. It's going to be a hunt."

"A hunt in the middle of a war." Thul leaned forwards, his head dipped politely. "Not an easy prey to corral."

"No, he won't be. Worse, we have to take him alive." Reaching out, I tapped a few commands on the table's console, bringing up several holographic screens. "This is Afterlife's bounty board as updated this morning. Aria has declared open season on the Blood Pack, but the top of the list..."

Jack leaned forwards, fear of Sederis forgotten, her bloodshot eyes almost comically wide. "Holy shit. That is... a lot of fucking zeroes."

"Even divided between all of us, enough to live the rest of your life in a drugged out haze." I nodded slightly. "Plan is simple. We form a new mercenary unit composed of us, maybe one other if I can convince him to handle intelligence and coordination for us. We'll take missions from the coalition that's forming against the Blood Pack, specifically the ones that give us the best chance of finding Krom. Alternatively, missions that let us claim the bounties on some of these other names."

"An intriguing option." Ayle's dark eyes narrowed in thought. "What about the Hegemony?"

"We'll be in a war zone, moving from place to place and surrounded by friendly troops more often than not." I shrugged in the Asari way. "If we hear about the SIU trailing us we take a short break from missions and kill them."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

Her lips twitched slightly. "The coalition you speak of currently consists of four warlords and five pirate kings. Who exactly would we be working for?"

"Sederis," I nodded to where the Warlord was still circling us. "Has given the plan her approval. She'll give us support and transportation to targets. If you can convince her to bankroll us, it would be good if T'Ravt would do the same. We can approach Aria after we have a few missions completed, hopefully we can appear to be the best option available to her to get Krom at her feet."

It was her turn to nod slowly. "That would allow us to alternate theaters and have a safe oasis regardless of what side of Omega we were on. And if Aria were to support us, Afterlife would be an ideal location to operate from. The SIU would never dare cross her."

I narrowed my eyes at her, flicking mine between both of her sets. "Are you in then?"

"It is an intriguing proposition."

"Thul?"

The large Batarian man was silent for a long moment. "Rane'li was yours, and you follow the wisdom of the Pillars in avenging what you lost. I would join you in your worthy hunt, if you would have me, and not mind if I attempt to speak with you from time to time."

"I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't want you with. And it depends on the topic."

He gave me a small smile. "There are many lines upon the Pillars of Heart that may help you my friend."

"The only Pillar I care about right now is that of Power."

"As I said, we will speak if you wish it."

So we probably wouldn't, but at least he was in. "Ayle?"

"Even distribution of pay? Withdrawal options? Leadership?"

"Yes. Anyone can quit during downtime, but if you try and bolt during a fight..." I let my voice trail for a moment, making sure to flick my eyes at Shyeel, Jack, and whoever he was. "The Pillar of Kin is quite clear on its opinion of cowards and traitors."

"And would you be the one commanding this new unit?"

"Only if you force me. I want Thul or yourself to run it." She blinked in surprise, forcing me to elaborate. "I don't have much experience at being a leader, at least, experience that went well. I'm fine being the second in command and advising, but I'd sooner not have all of your lives riding on my decisions."

"And you are of the Warrior caste, where I was merely an Artisan." Thul turned his chest so that he could bow his head with a hint of deference to the female. "Congratulations Commander Ayle."

"I don't get an opinion?" Shyeel finally spoke again, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Are you in?"

"Why would I turn down that much money?"

"Then sure, you get an opinion. It just doesn't matter." I shrugged a little. "Ayle is in command."

The Asari scowled, only for the newly appointed Commander to cut her off before she could speak. "If you are in, you're done with dust Shyeel."

She jerked back slightly, her mouth opening and then closing.

"You want that fortune? The SIU to cease their hunt of you? You can deal without your drug for a few months." Ayle shifted all of her eyes to glare at the scarred alien. "If that is too difficult you can walk out right now."

For a long moment, I thought she would. Blue hands grabbed her chair's armrests as if she was about to shove herself to her feet, stopping only when the unnamed human male nearly lunged forwards, whispering as rapidly as he could against he side of her head. On her other side, Jack glared at Ayle then leaned in as well, both of them listening as he said whatever it was he was saying.

The Reyja'krem's lips thinned heavily, but she eventually nodded tightly. "Fine. But the distribution of pay is equal across all members of the group, not just between the four of us."

Ayle glanced at me, nodding once I did. "Agreed."

After that things became more procedural as I took my seat, allowing the woman to work out how she wanted our small group organized. I was stuck with becoming her executive officer, while Voya and I would both be in charge of working on the group's weapons and armor. She'd get the former, I'd take the latter.

I also got to handle Sederis when it came to negotiating with the Eclipse, a decision that surprised me not at all.

The fellow human male was apparently named Marcus, and had been a freelance bounty hunter before he'd run into Jack. Somehow the two of them had ended up together during the Blue Sun war, and from the looks he gave her he meant the word 'together' in all of the meanings. Since I couldn't imagine that ending well for him, at all, I merely rolled my eyes and focused more on what he could do for us.

He had plenty of his own contacts in Aria's forces, plus the others of a similar profession, which could be very useful in keeping track of the competition. It wouldn't do for an idiot to accidentally kill Krom, after all.

And I very much wanted to be the last person he saw before I gave him to Aria.

Jack boasted about her biotic power when asked, and was quick to ask if Shyeel's ban included her as well. Ayle had merely pursed her lips and said she didn't care what they got up to, but anything that affected their ability to fight would not be overlooked. The former Cerberus experiment had blown that off, and things had moved on.

"That leaves our designation." From the way she glanced at me, she already knew. "Though I'm guessing Cieran has already selected it for us."

My lips curled a little. "It was the tool used for executions by the ancient Justicars. Seems appropriate to me."

Ayle sighed. "They were still my rivals Cieran."

I gave her a look and combined it with a leftward tilt of my had to show her just how much I cared about that.

"All right." Air whistled between her teeth. "At least the coloration is not abhorrent. Thul, we need to retrieve our equipment from Omega. Then we will need a location to prepare from while Cieran and his companion upgrade our equipment."

"Provided our first target is in Sederis's operations sphere, we're free to stay on this ship."

Pretty much everyone but Voya and I glanced at the _still_ silently pacing Warlord, her face giving away nothing beyond the tiniest of grins.

"That will be... acceptable. I will also negotiate with T'Ravt. Marcus, I'll need what information you have on your competitors and anything we could use to assure that Aria that it would be in her interests to support us."

He grunted, voice proving to be rich and low. "The former will be easy, the latter... I'll see what I can find out."

"Do what you can. Shyeel, Jacqueline. We need to go shopping, your armor is entirely insufficient." Ayle's upper eyes flicked my way. "Cieran, are you staying on board?"

"Partly. I have a few other things to take care of, one more person to recruit." A beat followed before I remembered that I'd ceded control to her. "With your permission for the latter."

"Provided they are useful, I will not object, though I would prefer to keep our organization small. There are still the other Reyja'krem who I would like to bring in when their own tasks are complete."

"Understood." I tilted my head a little to the left as I nodded. "I'll see you when you return."

Shyeel and her two vanished without much of a goodbye, Thul and Ayle being far more polite as they rose and followed them out.

Which left me alone with Voya and Sederis as I sank into my chair, bowing my head as I exhaled.

Step one had gone off better than I'd expected. Jack was... not anticipated, but she was usable. Having a biotic of her power when fighting with Krogan and Vorcha would be a massive boon, especially if Shyeel's habit had turned out to weaken her or fucked with her control. That they were with could be good for us, especially if Marcus also could contribute on the information side of things.

Fuck. I'd honestly expected Shyeel to storm out when Ayle had demanded she drop the dust.

"Would you really have incinerated her?" Sederis spoke into the silence, her voice once more sane, and also quite intrigued.

"I was tempted to until you indicated otherwise."

The Warlord let out a quietly pleased sound. "Good. Continue to let that rage burn, Kean. Otherwise an ocean of sorrow will drown you."

"And then I wouldn't be any use."

"Precisely." Her hands came to rest on the chair that Thul had vacated, her smile not reaching her eyes as she watched me. "Now, your payment."

I stared back at her, then nodded slowly. "Trena will have everything by the time you return to Illium."

And by everything... I meant everything. A full copy of the will I'd held onto, updated with my thoughts on all the crap that Krom had told me. It would be up to Scales to tell Sederis what she thought she should, to deal with it how she thought.

Turns out, when my lover was killed in front of me, I would absolutely trade knowledge of a possible future to a Warlord of questionable sanity in exchange for her support.

"Good." Her eyes narrowed. "How much did you lie to me?"

"I evaded and told technical truths." My head shook slightly. "Not much better but it's what I could do. Recent events... have made me wonder how much of what I know is actually real. If any of it. I didn't want to tell you something that turned out to be entirely fictional and just shoved into my head."

The Warlord stared at me for a long moment, her smile fading. "You do have a strong sense of self-preservation, don't you? I suppose that I cannot fault you, and I am becoming rather enamored of your ability to seek revenge."

I stared at her, my voice utterly serious. "If you're going to kill me, I'd ask that you not kill Voya. I haven't told her anything yet."

Beside me, said Quarian went very, very still.

"Kill you? Not just yet human. Not yet. But if you ever obfuscate information again, I will drown you in Illium's ocean, Gears's affection be damned." She let out a very long breath before pushing away from the chair, turning towards the door. "Your second favor is prepared, a shuttle with your mechs is waiting to take you both to Gozu."

I barely breathed as she departed, barely relaxing even after she was gone.

At least I was still breathing. Fucking huzzah.

"How many questions do you have?" Voya's eyes narrowed to slits behind her mask. "Figures. First, a promise has to be kept. Once you've recovered we'll... talk about all this."

Her anger seemed to relax as she stared at me in confusion, hands signing a quick question.

"A doctor of some acclaim recently arrived on station. We're going to go make a deal."

* * *

**Next up is Epilogue 2: A Fair Trade**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a massive Author's note... apologies lol.
> 
> First epilogue chapter, mostly just Cieran setting the plans he made in the days and week after Rane's death into motion. He finally runs into Jack, but is more interested in the fact that he can use her than the fact that he ran into her. And for the promise of Sederis's assistance.. he agrees to send Trena the information that Matriarch T'Ravt is willing to kill for, though he still doesn't know that Trena already had it. Should be a fun conversation when that happens.
> 
> Apart from that, tiny cliffhanger for the next chapter in preparation for yet another cameo.
> 
> There is going to be quite of a bit of a break between the end of Ronin and Vengeance, I have an original story that I want to actually finish and see about publishing somewhere. It shouldn't be nearly as long as the AR fics because I'm not that much of a masochist, so it will likely be just a few months.
> 
> One thing I am contemplating doing to let everyone know that AR: IV is on its way is to release a very short story more or less compiling Alliance Intelligence reports on everyone in Cieran's new group, I know that quite a few reviewers wanted to know what the rest of humanity thought of him and that seemed like a fun little way to show that.
> 
> Words literally can't express about how awesome it was to get so many reviews literally within an hour or two of posting... was going to wait before I posted E-1 but a promise is a promise. :)
> 
> For those interested, remember there is a TV Tropes page for the series, I high rec checking it out (and thanks to GreaterGoodIreland and SpiritStrike for it as always).
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	44. Epilogue: A Fair Trade

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Epilogue 2: A Fair Trade**

Voya and I only killed three people in between T'Ravt's territory and the new clinic that had just opened in the heart of Gozu.

Well, she killed three people, all of whom had been stupid enough to try and attack us or the mechs that compromised our payment. I mostly just observed as she shot the idiots and made sure that Glitch and Fine were keeping up with us all right. The former remained its usual problem self, shooting off a pair of Vorcha without orders when they got too close to our little party.

He'd already set up signs, which made the place easier to find than it otherwise might have been in the rat's nest of a district.

"Doctor... Doctor!" The sole guard was a young human man, the pistol in his hands shaking as the four of us trundled down the stairwell and into his sight. "We...um... d-don't come closer!"

Rolling my eyes inside my helmet, I stopped moving, planting my cane in front of Voya's feet to keep her in place as well. That earned me an annoyed little kick to the side of my leg, along with a glare that I ignored.

From the way the guard gaped at us, he hadn't honestly expected us to stop. Or maybe he had no idea why a Quarian would be kicking me. Or both. "Uh... um..."

"We're here to talk with the doctor." I spoke in Thessian and tried to relax my posture a little, trying to put him a little bit at ease. The last thing I wanted was for him to do something stupid like shoot his pathetic little pistol at Voya or Glitch. "Not to rob you."

He didn't seem to know how to respond, simply gaping at the pair of us in our heavy armor, the two mechs with their gleaming omni-plating behind us. Thankfully his boss had heard his initial shouts, a slim Salarian in familiar white and red appearing out of the front door, his black eyes taking us in.

"Mercenaries, strange to see a human-quarian pair, especially in this district. Neither obviously requires healing, ulterior motive? No identifying marks on armor, obviously upgraded and well maintained. Wait, distinctive cane, modified to launch tech mines. Remember report now, Republic Intelligence agents." Mordin Solus shifted his gaze from me to Voya. "Quarian cannot speak, here for treatment."

"Yes." Total honesty seemed to be the best policy. Despite his apparently relaxed demeanor I didn't doubt that he could have grenades at our feet before I could even snap my cane up. "Offering two upgraded LOKI mechs as payment."

Hands shifted, one rising before his mouth while the other came to support that elbow. "Excessive for simple procedure. Worried I will decline. You've left your organization, have gone rogue. Why?"

My lips twisted a little as I resisted the urge to shift my weight. "Krom killed my partner during the fighting last week, in addition to Aria's daughter. We intend to hunt him down."

The Salarian's strange nostrils flexed as he exhaled. "Know him by reputation. Human is dangerous, unstable. Enjoys killing but not before he psychologically tortures his victims. The galaxy will be a safer place with him gone. Worth the risk you may pose in the future, will do it."

Giving him a leftward tilt of my head, I added a small bow to show how thankful I was. "Thank you doctor."

"Thanks unnecessary. Have to ask that you keep your companion's weapons."

Voya stilled for a moment, then brought her hands up to quickly sign a few sentences.

"You'll be quite safe." I shook my head slightly, "If he wanted to kill us he already would have."

A more annoyed statement.

"That's what Glitch and Fine are for." Arms crossed her chest as gleaming eyes narrowed. Sighing, I turned back to the politely waiting Salarian and his very confused guard. "You have a cot I can use? She'd prefer I stay if she can't have weapons."

"Cot unnecessary, waiting room will suffice. Procedure will not be long." Voya and I both blinked a little bit in surprise at that. "After, likely best if Miss Chi and yourself return to your own location. Will provide medications and recommendations."

Translation: I'm willing to do it, but I'm not sure about either of you and I'd rather not have you scaring off people who need help more than you do.

And his little dropping of Voya's family name likely meant that he knew far more about us than he was letting on, which didn't surprise me in the slightest. Republic Intelligence had been a small organization both before and after Aethyta's takeover, especially compared to a group like the STG. It wouldn't have shocked me if the Salarian group had been reading the reports I'd sent before Aethyta had even seen them.

And given that Mordin was Mordin, he'd probably read every report he could get his hands on that was even sort-of related to Omega.

I nodded politely again. "Will she be all right to walk?"

"May require some assistance, will be welcome to remain for a few hours until she is steady." He allowed with a quick nod. "Will begin preparing clean room."

The Doctor withdrew back into the clinic proper, Voya and I following him as the guard awkwardly moved back into his little box. There weren't many other people there; a pair of Batarian exiles, a lowborn couple from the looks of them, a human woman sitting as far as she could from them, and an purple skinned Asari who was slumped over in a chair and very much asleep.

Muttering commands, I got both of the mechs inside the lobby before shutting them down, snapping an override when Glitch tried to activate a patrol routine instead. After that came the fun of getting Voya to surrender her weapons.

Getting the Viper was easy, the pistol less so, and I had to threaten asking the Doctor to sedate her right here in the lobby before she gave up her knives.

"You're going to be fine, stop being so bloody dramatic." I leaned back in my chair, watching as the petite alien paced back and forth in front of me. "In, out, you can sleep on the flagship for a week or two."

She didn't see me volunteering to have my throat sliced open by a stranger.

"Sederis says he's trustworthy. And if he wanted to kill us he already would have, told you that already."

She didn't find that to be reassuring in the slightest, narrowing her eyes before more gestures demanded I at least let her try and have one blade.

"No." Exhaling, I reached up and grabbed my helmet, yanking the heavy thing off so that I could glare at her properly. "Voya, you not being able to speak was fine when it was just the three or four of us. If we're going to be involved in an all-out war you're going to have to be able to warn people besides me about things that are going on."

Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to huff, looking away from me but continuing to pace. She didn't stop until Mordin returned twenty minutes later, the Salarian politely waving towards the back. My companion stilled, sucked in a long breath as she straightened her back, then nodded and followed him through the doors.

Leaving me behind. With my thoughts.

Yeah, no. Time to work. I had another person to recruit.

Flicking my omni-tool to life, I brought the address book up, found the appropriate name, and then settled back to wait for him to pick up.

He didn't keep me waiting long. " _I was wondering if you were going to call me sir."_

"Jarick. Guessing you know why I'm calling then."

" _Commander Red told me about Miss Rane."_ The kid let out a ragged sounding breath. " _And that you were going to go after the man who did it._ "

"That's the plan. You want in?"

_"I... what could I do to help?"_

"Don't underestimate the morale boost of good food. And everything I heard from Red said that you were pretty skilled on directing intelligence over the comms." My head leaned back until it hit the bulkhead. "You wouldn't be anywhere near the fighting, so you wouldn't have to worry about that."

I could easily imagine him biting his lip as he thought about it. " _Would I still be able to come back to Omega?"_

"It's the best place to get new equipment from, I'm sure we'll be by often enough for you to see your girl. You'll be eligible for a full cut from the bounties we pull in, so you'll be able to treat her very well when we are on station."

" _That would be nice sir."_ There was a long pause as he continued to think through things. " _Miss Rane was always nice to me, in her own way. And if Miss Illyan was here, she wouldn't hesitate to help you. I'll ask Commander Red for permission sir."_

That had been easier than I'd thought, but I wasn't about to complain. "We nominated Ayle to be in command, I'll forward you her contact information and see if she can have someone pick you up."

" _You can't sir?"_

 _"_ With Voya at a clinic, getting her vocal cords repaired." Or whatever the Quarian equivalent was, a biology major I was not. "Just make sure it isn't Shyeel or her freelancers. They're assholes."

" _I'll..._ " There was a suspicious choking sound. " _...keep that in mind."_

Rolling my eyes, we exchanged quick goodbyes and then cut the line. Shifting applications, I quickly followed that call with a message to Ayle, telling her that we now had someone who could run coordination and manage our battlefield intelligence. He'd need some seasoning, but then again so would the rest of us. I don't think anyone in our little group was used to the squad-level commando crap we were going to be doing.

At least Jarick would also be able to cook very good food provided we could get him descent materials to work with.

That done and out of the way, I spent about ten seconds drumming my fingers on my armored legs and debating what to do next. That hadn't taken nearly as long as I had thought, which left me with... not all that much to do. A quick glance showed the two Batarians, apparently a couple, studiously murmuring to one another, while the human girl was imitating the Asari near her and trying to fall asleep.

Sighing, I shoved myself up to my feet and headed over to ask the guard if he wanted me to run him through reprogramming the mechs. He turned out to have not technical skills whatsoever, but was willing to let me stand guard for him while he went and woke up two of the other staff who apparently did.

They turned out to be a Turian couple of all things, both of whom nearly started bouncing for joy when they saw the gleaming mechs. The combined babbling of questions about what we'd upgraded them with ended up lasting nearly an hour before they settled down enough to start working through everything that would need to be adjusted.

We had both mechs shut down with a tablet linked to their VI's, adjusting their command subroutines when Mordin returned from the back, maybe four hours after he'd departed.

"Very poor work, very sloppy." The Doctor let out a superior sniff as he headed our way. "Detest local doctors, undeserving of the name. No degree. No talent. Simple greed. Blame the extranet myself, too easy to locate so called demonstration videos."

A small smile tugged at my lips, the rush of words bringing a tiny wave of nostalgia. Setting the tablet I'd been working on aside, I rose to my feet and gave him a polite nod. "Did it go all right?"

"Of course, of course. Daniel bringing her out of surgery now, good young man, excellent assistant material." The Salarian glanced at his people, both of them still focused on their tasks, then back at myself. "Normally payment would be considered excessive, but your assistance is welcome. Was going to have to purchase them on my own, can now spend that on additional medical equipment. And replacement Quarian medications."

"Just be careful with Glitch." I glanced at the mech in question, the stupid thing looking deceptively harmless in its shut-down state. "We named it that for a reason. Likes to activate subroutines and adjust its friend-or-foe parameters for no logical reason. Never could figure out why."

"Will keep that in mind." He exhaled, his black eyes blinking as he regarded me. "Returning to your companion. Best to ensure that she rests, still avoid speaking for at least a week. Very delicate work, giving her selection of medications and will note when she must take each to accelerate natural repair process."

"I'll make sure she takes them. She awake?"

"She is, will bring her out when anesthetic enables her to remain upright." Mordin glanced back at where his people were working. "Assisting them with the mechs was unnecessary."

My lips thinned a bit. "Its keeping me occupied."

"Tried religion myself. Hm. Never contemplated mechanical work, worth considering. Simple acts of construction supposed to be cathartic."

The idea of Mordin trying to build machinery terrified me. Goddess. Any mech that he built would be... I couldn't even... no, just... no. "It... can be, but it's not for everyone."

"Suppose you are correct. My thanks for your assistance, will bring your companion out soon."

"Thanks doc."

* * *

**Next up is Epilogue 3 – An Unexpected Gift**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mordin is stupidly hard to write, just want to get that out there. His shifting between fast babble-attacks and slower, more serious tones is really hard to freaking get down. Think I got very close in a few sections, farther away in others, either way, hope it reads all right.
> 
> Next chapter... Cieran will be both depressed yet darkly content as he gets a gift. Also, Voya will be able to speak. There will be cursing.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	45. Epilogue: A Unexpected Gift

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Epilogue 3: A Unexpected Gift**

"You aren't supposed to be shouting." I reminded my companion a week and a half later, the pair of us lounging in our cabin on the _Solar Eclipse._ "Or did you want to have to go get your neck cut open again?"

Our cabin really wasn't all that impressive. Two bunks set into alcoves, split by a narrow walkway that lead to a small door. On the other side of that was our own shower and tiny bathroom, marking it as formerly being an officer's quarters.

The unmasked Quarian glared at me from where she was sitting in her bunk, wide eyes narrowing. "Shut up Cieran, I wasn't shouting."

Voya's voice had proven to be... surprisingly girlish once you got past the rough and scratchy edges. It wasn't as bad as Ghai's, and would supposedly fade as her body continued to heal and adjust to the fact that things were back in working order. Then again, it probably just sounded girly in comparison to Rane and Ayle's.

My brain paused at the reminder of Rane, lurching back into motion only when I ruthlessly suppressed the wave of emotion that tried to rise.

And just as she'd promised, the first things she'd croaked out had been a several minute tirade in Khellish after she'd yanked my translator out of my ear. Untranslated the language had proven to sound vaguely Slavic or Russian, which probably explained why the translations had given them that accent in the games.

Games...

Heh.

Shaking myself again, I rolled my eyes and collapsed back in my hard bed. "Sounded like shouting to me."

"Then perhaps your ears aren't working." She continued in her accented Thessian. It wasn't as sharp as the Illium cut to my own words, but it was a far cry from the flowery crap I'd heard a few Asari speak in. Apart from her opening curses, and a few other oaths, she seemed to avoid her native tongue. I wasn't complaining, it meant I didn't have to hear the echo of her words as my translator did its job. "I could cut them off for you, you'd look less stupid. And maybe hear better."

"Always with my ears."

"Easy targets."

"So is your hair." She started to growl, then winced as a hand reflexively moved towards her throat. "Easy there. Maybe that's enough for the day."

Her lips twisted a bit, but she reluctantly nodded, exhaling as she let herself fall over, rolling onto her back. A few moments later she had her omni-tool online, my own flickering to life as she easily bypassed my latest password.

 _I hate this._ The glowing words appeared above my wrist as she typed them on her own. _It's worse than not being able to speak at all._

"Few more weeks and you'll be able to complain all you like."

_That still leaves a few weeks of this crap. Able to speak but not able and its taunting me and SHIT._

"You want to go work on something?"

_Like what?_

"Our pistols still need some tweaking. And I still think there's some more things I can do with Shyeel's armor."

I saw her make a face out of the corner of my eye. _That means putting my mask on. Or are you going to let me use the re-breather?_

"You can use that when you can speak properly and we know you're fully healed."

Grey lips curled. _Why do I listen to you?_

"I have no idea."

 _Me either._ The dual-glow cut out as she shut our omni-tools off, the Quarian very reluctantly pushing herself back to a seated position. She took her time collecting her mane of hair, binding it with small clips before working it into a odd bundle that let it all fit and kept it out of her face. A final glare was followed by her working her helmet and mask on, as happy as she ever was to have to wear the thing.

Honestly even letting her not have it on in our room was a risk, but she'd drawn the line as soon as she wasn't high on painkillers. She'd keep her neck covered over the incisions and I could consider myself lucky that she'd agreed to that much.

Groaning, I rose to my feet once she was upright, moving to open the door for her... only to stare blankly at the Batarian female who'd been about to knock. "Ayle?"

"Cieran, you're awake." We reflexively exchanged polite nods, my own a few degrees to the left while hers went right. "There's something for you in the hanger we're using."

I blinked. A few times. "Huh?"

She seemed to restrain a smile. "Someone is apparently rather fond of you."

Because that was just mysterious enough to drive me insane, she turned and beckoned for us to follow. Growling a little, I did so, letting Voya shut the hatchway behind us.

"Are you going to give me details or continue to have fun annoying me?"

"The latter of course." The other Reyja'krem gave me a little grin. "You have only yourself to blame, I would have accepted you as our leader Cieran. Then you could have simply ordered me to tell you."

"You're going to bring that up every time you feel like annoying me, aren't you?"

"Until I accept the name you pushed on us, yes." From her tone, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. "Onto other topics, Voya, how is your voice?"

"Improving." Voya reported shortly. "Slowly."

"Still limiting how much she talks per day." I elaborated, stepping aside to let both of the women enter the lift that would take us down to the hanger deck before me. "But there is progress."

"Excellent."

The quick elevator trip that followed was silent, the doorway sliding open to deposit us in another hall. Another short walk brought us into the small hanger that Sederis had set aside for us to use, Ayle bemusedly letting me step forwards to open the door for them.

The hanger itself wasn't all that large. It was mostly a maintenance garage, connected to the main hanger by a pair of massive doors set against a wall. For once those doors were open, allowing crew members to haul crates of equipment marked with a too-familiar symbol into our space, Thul directing them where to stack everything.

Of course, I was hardly paying attention to that. Or to Ayle's massive grin. Or to Voya's stunned gasp.

My eyes were entirely on what had already been hauled in and set up in a specially built rack against the far wall.

It was eight, eight and a half feet tall, and had a hunchbacked appearance from where the shoulder plates rose up to protect the sides of where the wearer's head would be. The plating was all harsh angles and sharp edges, far more so than its fore-bearer. Off to the right was a massive tower shield, easily as tall as I was, with a notch where a heavy weapon could be rested against it. Said weapon was mounted in a rack on the other side, a massive double-barreled cannon with coolant lines waiting to be attached. The entire thing was painted a deep matte black, the same coloration that I'd always preferred for my armor. The sole exception was on the right side of its chest.

A red circle, highlighting the white colored image of a mounted chevalier, his lance lowered in a charge.

"It would seem that your former Tarath'shan is still rather fond of you." Thul rumbled, his grin lazy and pleased as he split his gaze between my stupefied expression and the massive suit of power armor. "She also dispatched twenty crates of tech mines, and sufficient spare parts to last you through several months of continuous battle."

Eventually I realized that my mouth was open, shutting it with an embarrassed click as I tried to process what I was seeing.

The former priest chuckled, holding out a small panel for me to peruse. "It came with a message for you."

Still mildly in shock, I took it slowly, forcing my eyes down to stare at the words rather than at the perfect image of the designs that Rane and I had drawn up a lifetime ago.

_Reyja'krem Cieran Kean._

_If you're reading this, then you received the first production model to come out of my new factory. It is likely to still have some issues, regrettably my new programmers are not as skilled at VI creation as Rane'li was, nor do my engineers have your unique affinity for this kind of equipment. Regardless, I am sure that you will find ways to further improve upon the design. If you require additional supplies beyond what was sent, simply alert me with a list of requirements and it will be provided at-cost._

_T'laria updated me as to what happened on Omega. She was quite intoxicated at the time she called, so I will admit to not entirely understanding her ranting, but I heard enough to know that..._

_It is... difficult for me to write this. Easier than speaking, perhaps, but still... difficult._

_Trisren was someone I respected, someone who cared for and trained you when I could not. Rane'li ul Ben'mass was... someone who cared for you more properly than I likely ever did, and I will... Pillars. I admit to regretting the words I spoke when we last met. I know it will not change anything, but..._

_Pillar of Heart, this is a mess. I don't even know why I'm sending this message._

_To return to the matter I imagine to be entirely occupying your mind and soul. The Pillar of Power is clear on what should be done to those who harm the members of a Harath or Reyja'krem's cadre. I'm sure you never accepted her oath, I'm sure that she made it in secret regardless._

_I pray that the Pillars guide you in the time to come, and that you find the vengeance you seek._

_Matriarch Nynsi Shaaryak_

I needed several attempts to read through the short letter, lowering it and then raising it as I forced myself to keep reading. I didn't need the swells of conflicting emotion that threatened to drown me, each word reverberating in my head as if she was standing there and speaking in her smooth, formal tones.

Thul took the tablet back when I thrust it his way, closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing.

"Are you all right Cieran?"

"That's a stupid fucking question Thul."

He ignored my snap with placid indifference. "It allowed some of your anger to escape, thus it was not."

A muscle in my cheek twitched, my legs carrying me past the broad male as I tried to refocus myself. Emotional about my former-lovers near apology for exiling me or not, there were two things that I very much could focus on. One, she'd admitted that her words wouldn't change anything. She was entirely correct about that. Second, she'd sent me a suit of the power armor I'd designed after my modified construction suit had finally died. And offered to supply me with parts for it at cost. A professional relationship then, if no longer a personal one.

I could work with that. I'd be stupid not to put pragmatism over emotion.

Breathing out a long breath, I kept walking until I was standing in front of the armor, reaching up to touch the cool plating, fingers trailing over the logo.

"I will have to adjust the tactics I had in mind." Ayle mused, moving up to stand on my right, her dark eyes exploring the machine in front of us. "Though I am not complaining about having to do so. I don't suppose you could convince her to give us a few more?"

I couldn't help but snort. "Supplies at cost is one thing. I don't think that will apply to another one of these."

I'd have to interrogate Trena about just who she was selling them to. Or maybe just ask her directly. Nynsi wasn't stupid by any means, she wouldn't have sunk however many millions of credits it had taken to build a factory to make power armor without buyers already contractually obligated to purchase.

Not that I honestly cared. I doubted she was selling to the Hegemony after the Balak family had thrown her into the riptide to be devoured by sharks.

"It will have to be repainted of course, and our own marking added. Perhaps on the shield?"

"That will work." I nodded slightly. "Make sure to leave mine in place."

"Of course. How eager are you to open it up and inspect every bolt?"

My lips curled a little, the banter reminding me that I had _goddess-damned power armor_ again. "Voya! Get your ass over here, we have a new project to tune up."

* * *

**Next up is Epilogue 4: A Silent Oath**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did say power armor wasn't gone from the series, and now Cieran has the suit he was prepping to build at the end of Terminus. Just one more epilogue scene to go, and then AR: Ronin will be completed.
> 
> Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
> 
> Thanks, Kat


	46. Epilogue: A Silent Oath

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

**Epilogue 4: A Silent Oath**

_Date: 06-12-2182 (Three weeks later)_

If there was one thing I'd learned about Voya'chi vas Xentha over the past month, it was that she could complain about _anything_. And do so at length without repeating herself, even occasionally not swearing as she did. Contradictions were to be anticipated, and not commented on unless I wanted to be hit, berated, or both.

"The coloration is still off." Voya muttered, her gleaming eyes frowning at the tiny mirror in our bathroom. "There's... too much silver."

Because I still had a black-eye from my sparring session with Thul earlier in the morning, I didn't comment on the fact that she'd spent all of the morning bitching about how there was too much of the dark blue. "It's better than what Tris and her people used, the white was too close to Blue Sun colors for Ayle to accept."

The Quarian simply continued to evaluate her armor, now painted in dark navy with silver slashes and crosses to break her profile a bit. The sole exception was on the left side of her chest, where the image of a down-turned Asari longsword had been done up in the same silver, highlighted with a deep purple, as if it was coated in Asari blood.

The Silver Blade, once used as the Asari tool and symbol for executions.

"Perhaps." Her gray lips twisted a little as she continued to evaluate it. "I suppose it is passable. It isn't as if we'll have much need to disguise ourselves."

"It's paint. We can put camo on if we think we need it." Exhaling, I shook my head in bemusement. "Are you done staring at yourself yet? Most of our equipment's already been transferred, they'll be calling for us anytime now."

"You will wait until I'm done." She sniffed in superior annoyance, managing to stare down her nose at me despite the fact that I was a foot taller. "Now shut up and give me my helmet."

"You have arms, and hands. None of which are broken." Completely ignoring her annoyed hiss, I shoved my already packed duffel bag aside before dropping back into my bunk amidst a clatter of armor plating.

It was... weird to be wearing light plate again, the heavy suit packed away as I could hardly fit inside of the power armor while wearing it. The new panels had the same paint scheme as Voya's, with our group's logo on my left breast. Thul had insisted on adding a copy of the same image from my power armor on the left shoulder, and was encouraging everyone to 'personalize' their armor a bit.

When Ayle had made the mistake of asking why, she'd gotten a very long winded speech about the Pillar of Heart and how it would inspire us or something. I'd been too busy berating Jack for trying to cheat at cards to really pay much attention. I'd been less upset that she cheated than the total lack of subtlety. Rane had cheated in every card game she'd ever played, admitting to it even if I'd never once caught her.

Rane.

Pursing my lips a little, I hesitated for a moment before flicking my omni-tool to life with a gesture. A few more shifts of my finger brought up a tiny image, a picture taken by Illyan before she'd been wounded. She'd sent it to me after she'd been told what happened, the message not having any words with the picture.

I'd understood the sentiment, and sent a few words of thanks back.

It was... just us, sleeping on a couch together. Rane'li burrowed into my side, her large frame covered by a blanket with all four of her eyes closed in sleep as her head rested on my shoulder. My own head rested on hers, dyed hair loose and framing both of our faces as we slept.

Goddess. She looked so relaxed. Peaceful.

Alive.

"We're going to find him Cieran." My companion spoke quietly, her voice hard as she looked on from the bathroom's doorway. "We'll find him, give him to Aria, and sip wine while she strangles him."

Breathing very slowly, I closed the file as her words brought a slow surge of a new emotion. "Why the fuck would I drink wine? A good Illium made rum. Mixed of course."

She snorted before pulling her helmet on, taking care to make sure it sealed properly to her neck before grabbing her armored mask. A few clicks later had her ready to head out, her voice synthesized when she spoke again. "I'll stick to Turian wine since I would like to actually enjoy my drink."

"Fair enough." Turning a bit, I took my own helmet off the mattress, turning it over in my armored hands. "Remember the agreement?"

"I already agreed Cieran." Voya scoffed. "Not as if it actually needed to be said."

"Forgive me for wanting to make sure that you'll remember to focus on him if I end up dead." My lips curled a little bit on one side. "I'd rather you not get distracted killing Krogan and Vorcha that don't really matter."

The glowing eyes behind her visor rolled. "If you end up dead, so will Krom."

"Thanks." I murmured the word before pulling the helmet on, the Hud flickering to life as it connected to the rest of my armor's systems.

Overhead, the ship's speakers echoed to life, causing both of us to glance up. " _Silver Blades please report to hanger 3-F for transport to the Imminent Death. Repeat, all Silver Blades members report to hanger 3-F, your shuttle departs in twenty."_

Nodding to myself, I pushed my body up to its feet, hauling my duffle bag up with me as I did so. "Ready to go kill people for money?"

"What kind of stupid fucking question is that?" The Quarian turned away, grabbing her own bag and hefting it over a shoulder. "Are you ready to go find your vengeance?"

To go find my vengeance. To find the man who'd killed my Rane. To drag him before Aria and watch as she throttled the life out of him.

You know... I rather liked the sound of that.

* * *

**End: Another Realm Ronin**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, just more than one year since I began Another Realm: Arrival, the third story of a rather unplanned series has reached its end. While I very much didn't anticipate writing more than just that first story, I can't say that I regret continuing. The amount of reviews and readers has been above and beyond anything that I thought I would see when I started, massive shout out to everyone who's stuck with me since those early fumbles in the first person, equal amounts of thanks to everyone who found the story later and went back and read it all.
> 
> I literally wouldn't be doing this if you all didn't enjoy me doing it and tell me such, boosting my confidence and courage to keep going as the weeks and months went on. It's gotten to the point where I'm going to try my hand at writing something original, and either trying to find a publisher or risk throwing it out there myself.
> 
> Either way I might never have even gotten the confidence to try if it wasn't for all of you telling me I'm half-decent at this, so thanks. :)
> 
> It will likely be a few months until AR: Vengeance begins because of that personal project, as well as generally needing to take a step back out of Cieran Kean's broken mind for a bit. Vengeance is generally outlined at this point, and the Blocked Writer (massive thanks to him too) and I are going over ideas for the series beyond then as well.
> 
> Since I'm still thanking everyone, extra thanks to GreaterGoodIreland for setting up the TvTropes page for the series, and SpiritStirke for working on it. Be sure to check it out, it's a nifty little thing.
> 
> Apart from that... final bonus thanks to the Blocked Writer for putting up with all the messages and chapters I send him, and dealing with my occasionally inane thought processes and keeping me on my outline. Remember that I'm more than happy to talk with anyone, so feel free to PM me with thoughts, questions, or just to chat about the series.
> 
> Until I come back,
> 
> Semper Victoria,
> 
> Katkiller V


End file.
